The Will to Live
by L.J. Murder-Root
Summary: While Naruto was busy pursuing Sakura's heart, Orochimaru has been busy pursuing eternal life.   Naruto x Sakura    OC Hikaru Shibuya, Haruna Shibuya, Yuji Shibuya, Kazuharu Motoru     with betaing from The Sweeping Channel
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, or Naruto the manga. That shiznit belong to Masashi Kishimoto, however I do own my Original character Hikaru Shibuya.

Of course I love to start off my fanfictions with an introduction. This FF is a story of violence, love, betrayal, lust, and death.

:) sounds fun don't ya think?

This story is Sasuke x Sakura

Naruto x Sakura (Later)( ;) possibly even some Sasuke x Naruto hahaha yeah there's no f**king way that's gonna happen.)

And Hikaru...is just being Hikaru. Oh btw, in this story, Sakura has been Naruto's best friend since their early years at the academy.

Author's Note: Yeah yeah I know, I talk too much, but screw u :p, nah Jk I love you guys. But I thought I should share, NaruSaku is one of my least favorite pairs in FF (SasuSaku is my least favorite), but to make the story all dramatic, it needs to happen.

Just like KibaHina, ShinoHina, NejiHina, SakuLee, ShikaIno, KibaIno, and NaruIno are my other least favorites, you'll probably see me write fanfics of em. Who knows, I'm just that type of dude. (You can pretty much infer that NaruHina is my favorite pair)

But enough if my chitter chatter, here's the story

~Happy Murder~


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Naruto tossed and turned as he tried to catch some sleep. It was almost impossible with Sakura moaning Sasuke's name in the next room. Naruto was used to the sound by now. He had heard it every time the squad went on a mission. Every time he heard this, Naruto felt his aching heart, hurt a little more.

Haruno Sakura was his closest friend. She had been his friend since they were in the academy. She always said she would be his friend forever, but Naruto wanted to be much more than that.

Naruto wrapped his head in his blankets, but nothing helped. Naruto felt tears spilling from his eyes and staining his cheeks.

*Flashback*

Naruto and Sakura were spending the day together around the konoha and the neighboring towns. They had eaten in the best restaurant in the village (which Naruto had a particularly hard time finding because of his only knowing one restaurant), then went to a festival in the neighboring town.

They relished each other's company. He and Sakura laid on a grassy field as they watched the sun set on the town. Naruto looked at her beautiful smile as the orange glow if the sun shone on her face. He longed to kiss those beautiful lips of hers, but all in due time.

"Hey, I guess we should be getting back to the village now, don't you think?" Her gentle smile always was able to put him at ease whoever he felt troubled or hurt. The smile what always assured him that he always had a place in her heart.

Naruto giggled "Just hold on Sakura-chan. The best part is yet to come." he pointed to the sky.

She was confused, but looked in the direction where Naruto pointed.

The sky illuminated before her eyes. The fireworks shot across the sky lighting the sky a green. The neon streaks reminded the Blonde of his cherry blossom's eyes; the eyes he often found himself lost in.

"Wow Naruto! This is beautiful!" she stared in awe at the flashing lights "This was really a perfect day, I'm glad I got to share it with you." Another beautiful flash of pastel blue was released into the sky.

Naruto took a deep breath.

"What's wrong Naruto-kun?"

He grabbed Sakura's hand "Sakura-chan..." he gulped as he felt the lump in his throat growing thicker. "Sakura-chan, I...well...We've known each other for a long time...and well..."

"Naruto, this is nothing like you, spit it out already."

Her mesmerizing smile worked it's reassuring charm Naruto took a deep breath once more. He tried to compose himself "Sakura-chan, I have had strong feelings for you for a very long time."

Sakura was dumbfounded "N...Naruto-kun..."

"Sakura-chan, you were there for me when no one else was. You were the first friend I made, and no matter what people said about me, you never abandoned me. You have no idea how much you mean to me."

"Naruto-kun..."

"So please, will you be my girlfriend Sakura-chan?"

There was a long silence between the two of them. The last firework went off; Naruto had a huge grin on his face. He was proud of himself for admitting his feelings to the girl he had wanted for the longest time. His racing heart ached for her acceptance.

"...Naruto-kun...it makes me really happy that you feel that way, please believe me." she smiled.

"But...I can't accept."

These cold words left Naruto feeling numb. He hand planned this specific day, a day where nothing could go wrong. He couldn't believe that she rejected him like this.

He dropped her hand.

"Naruto-kun...I'm so sorry." She saw the disheartened look on his face. It broke her heart to see him like this, but he needed to know the truth "The truth is...I'm really in love with..."

*end flashback*

"Sasuke!" She screamed. This scream meant their lust filled frenzy was finally over.

He closed his eyes, and nodded off to sleep.

The morning sun shone in Naruto's eyes. He awoke from his light sleep, and sat up in his futon.

He took a deep breath; he couldn't remember the reason why he bothered to wake up anymore. He got dressed in his orange and black jumpsuit, and put his black clothed headband on his head.

As he walked out the door to his room, he heard something from Sakura and Sasuke's.

"Come on Sakura, just once before we leave this place? We still have an hour." Sasuke asked in his deep husky voice.

Sakura sighed "Uchiha, you always ask me to do this for you. I'm starting to think you're only with me for my body."

"You know that's not the truth Sakura. I already told you exactly how I felt for you." Sasuke said.

'Reject him Sakura-chan, please reject him.'

"I wonder if you actually meant it. Our romantic relationship seems nonexistent, all we ever do is sex." she said.

"Listen. I admit, I haven't been the best boyfriend, but I promise you we will have a real date once we get back to the village."

"Do you really mean it Sasuke?" He heard the happiness in Sakura's tone.

"I've never lied to you in the past, have I?"

Naruto was sick to his stomach. He walked out of the house, and went to the back yard. The back yard had green field with a beautiful garden, filled with the blue petaled flower. The cherry blossom trees were next to the flower bed. The pink petals of the trees complemented the dark blue very well. There was also a clear lake.

He sat down at the border where the water met the grass. Cherry blossom petals fell into the water. He picked one of them out of the water.

They reminded him of the color of Sakura's hair. He always loved when the cherry blossoms bloomed. In some way, being surrounded by them made him feel closer to the person he loved most.

The warm feeling in his chest disappeared as soon as he thought of Sakura kissing Sasuke's lips. He was always very jealous of him. Sasuke was always the one everyone looked up to. He was the one who all the teachers at the academy adored. Even when Sasuke was all alone, everyone supported him.

Naruto was alone all his life, and no one ever supported, no one except for Sakura.

Naruto laid in his back. He couldn't stand how everything he thought about lead back to her.

*Flashback*

Sakura truly lamented rejecting him after he tried so hard to impress her, but she couldn't lie to him about her feelings.

"Naruto...are you gonna be okay?" Even though Naruto knew her concern was genuine, it didn't hurt any less.

"...Naruto?" Sakura touched his hand, Naruto pulled away as soon as the tips of her fingers made contact. He put his hand behind his head, lifted up his head, and smiled "Of course I'll be okay! I'm the great Uzumaki Naruto, the future 6th hokage!" He tried to save face, but his eyelids were already wet with tears

"...Naruto..."

"Well, I think I should head back to the village now. See ya later Sakura." He maintained his smile. His emotional mask was transparent due to the face that she could see the tears build up in his eyes.

He wiped his face as he ran farther from Sakura.

"Naruto!"

*End flashback*

"Comfortable?"

Naruto jumped as he heard the voice cold, and dark voice. The voice that could scare a crying child into silence. This voice belonged to none other than Hikaru Shibuya, of the Shibuya clan.

"Hikaru! Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"I told you to refer to me as Hikaru-sama. And you not noticing my presence is much different from me sneaking up on you." He wore a psychotic smile "Or wouldn't you agree?"

This smiled chilled every one of Naruto's bones "Please stop. I hate it when you use that creepy grin."

Hikaru laughed. Scaring Naruto was his best entertainment he had "So, what are you doing here all alone?"

"Nothing, can't I just enjoy my morning quietly?" Naruto crossed his arms.

"Hmm, that's strange. Did you want a quiet morning before, or after you heard Sakura agree to give Sasuke head?"

Naruto blushed "W...what are you talking about! I..."

"Eavesdropping, how pathetic." Hikaru smirked.

"I...I wasn't eavesdropping, I was just...I was just...Wait, how do you know what they were talking about, perhaps your the eavesdropper and not me." He grinned. He had never won an argument with Hikaru before, this was his first victory

"Yeah, I am an eavesdropper, and proud of it too."

Victory quickly turned to defeat.

"Hey, idiots! Come on. We need to go." Sasuke called out to the two.

"Looks like she's done."

"Shut up Hikaru."

"I wonder if she swall..."

Naruto punched Hikaru in the face, and ran off to join the other two.

He laughed as he rubbed his cheek "I forgot how hard he hits when he's angry."

Hikaru may have been an absolute fool, but he was one of the best ninjas in the leaf. He had the skill of Sakura, the strength of Naruto, and a kekkei genkai that could rival the sharingan. He was greatly respected, and feared in the village. He always wore a katana on his back. It had 27 tally marks carved in the hilt. Each line represented one person he killed with it.

"Okay, all we need to do is get the scroll from the temple, and bring it back to Tsunade-sama. We should be there by the time the sun sets." Sakura said. "The residents of the shrine were all murdered by a group of ninja who were after the scroll, so we need to be on our guard.

Hikaru leaned closer to Naruto "I bet you can't look at her the same after Sasuke-kun defiled her like that."

"Do you want me to hit you again?"

Hikaru laughed "Hey Haruno! How did Sasuke-kun's D..."

Naruto drove his elbow into the top of Hikaru's skull.

He fell to the ground "G...good one Naruto-kun." he groaned.

Sasuke sighed "Sometimes you two are too much to deal with."

"Hey, don't be mean Sasuke-kun. At least it's never boring when they're around." Sakura kissed his lips.

"Besides, Hikaru-Chan is the one who is always causing the problems."

"Don't hate me cuz I'm sexy." he retorted.

The group laughed, except for Sasuke of course. Though the four of them were very different, they all enjoyed each other's company. They knew everything about one another, their jutsu, fighting styles, even their thought process while fighting. This made their squad one of the most powerful and in demand in the village.

Nightfall came quickly. The night was filled with the sound of crickets chirping. All seemed peaceful.

The four had finally reached the steps of the temple.

The stone steps seemed to go on forever.

Naruto stopped to rest "Hey guys...can't we take a break or something..."

He turned around to look down at the others. He saw Hikaru throw a kunai knife in his direction. Naruto ducked as it neared hitting him.

"Hikaru! What the hell is the matter with you!"

"Yeah! Why did you attack him!" Sakura yelled.

"If you two will shut up for a moment, look behind you. "

The two tuned and faced forward. There was a bleeding corpse right in front of Naruto, with a dagger in hand.

"...who...who was that?" He asked

"Probably an assassin sent to stop us from getting this scroll." Sasuke said.

"But I don't get it, what's the big deal about a scroll?"

"It's one of the scroll Orochimaru has been looking for." Hikaru said "As we all know, Orochimaru is looking for a way to gain immortality. The scroll we've been assigned to collect and bring to the village, is one of the five that will help him achieve his goal."

The three hadn't understood the importance of the mission until it was explained to them. They thought it was a simple retrieval mission.

"I see." Sakura said "Do you think there'll be more people coming after us?"

"Of course there will be. But I can take 'em, so there's no need to worry." Sasuke said in his usual nonchalant tone of voice.

Sakura couldn't help but fawn over him.

Naruto gritted his teeth. He started to walk over to Sasuke but Hikaru grabbed his shoulder.

"Hikaru-chan? Let go of me!"

He shook his head "We have more important thing to worry about than your personal problems."

Though he wanted to take out all his rage in Sasuke, he knew the mission came first.

"Let's go. We need to get that scroll before it's stolen."

They group continued their way up the stairs. The unknown danger both frightened, and interested them. They would complete the task at hand, even if they died doing it.

Author's note: Okay, lots of stuff happening :). Things will only get better, as time goes by.

I hope u all loved Hikaru :D Hikaru is like that guy who's in everyone's group of friends (the asshole that everyone hates but loves at the same time)


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

With every step up the stone steps, the group grew more uneasy. Each shift that they heard in the bushes made their muscles tense. The threat of being attacked kept them vigilant, and alert.

As they got closer to the shrine, they began to breath easier.

"Okay." Naruto said "Looks like we made it."

Hikaru's eyes darted around the walkway "Sasuke-kun, sharingan, use it."

"Pft. Don't order me around like I'm your damn servant."

Sasuke focused his chakura in his eyes, and activated his kekkei genkai.

"Well? Do you see anything?" Hikaru asked.

Sasuke looked around the front of the shrine.

He looked at every surrounding item around it. He saw one person with very high level of chakura. "No. No one's here."

"But, that can't be right? There's no way that someone would attack is and there not be others."

"You're the one who asked if I saw anything Hikaru-chan, if I say I don't, then it means I don't."

"Hey you two, stop fighting." Sakura said "If Sasuke-kun said he couldn't see anything, maybe the other ninja's allies haven't come yet."

Hikaru glared at Sasuke. He didnt trust him at all. The Shibuya and the Uchiha clans have always had bad blood between each other. Both clans were used the most in the great ninja wars, and the Shibuya clan was subservient to the Uchiha. They were basically used as body guards and slaves. This continued until the fourth hokage was chosen. Even though the practice was dead, the tension between the two clans remained until their destruction.

The group walked to the mahogany door of the temple. The silence was nerve wracking. It almost made them wish that someone would attack them, anything would have been better than waiting for something to happen.

"Hey, shouldn't one of us stay at the front in case someone tries to sneak up on us?" Naruto asked.

"I guess, but wouldn't we need more than just one person?"

"Don't worry Sakura-chan." Sasuke said "I'll stand guard, it's better more people go for the scroll than wait around outside."

Hikaru skeptically stared at Sasuke

"What do you want, Shibuya?"

"Oh nothing. It's just strange for you to volunteer for something as tedious as guard duty. You wouldn't happen to be expecting something to happen, would you?"

Sasuke clenched his fists "Just what are you trying to say."

Naruto Separated the two before anything progressed "Stop it right now. Whatever problems you two have, settle them back at the village. We're a team, like it or not, we need to work together."

The red eyed ninja grabbed Naruto's arm, and pushed him against the wall.

"Don't ever interfere with me."

His dark gaze penetrated Naruto's eyes. The hypnotic effect of the sharingan started to distort his vision. Naruto lost the ability to scream, all he could do was tremor, and wait for whatever came next from the Uchiha.

"Let him go Sasuke-kun." Sakura demanded.

Sasuke reluctantly let the blonde boy out of his grip.

"Go and get the scroll."

Naruto fell to the floor, and tried to regain control of his body. He had never seen anything more terrifying until that day. The only thing that brought the young ninja back to his senses was the embrace of Sakura.

"Everything's fine Naruto, it was all an illusion."

He stood up, and was able to calm his nerves.

Sasuke watched his squad walk into the temple to retrieve the scroll. He waited until their footsteps were no longer heard.

"You can come out now. They're gone."

The leaves of the bushes rustled. A man came out and stopped in front of the young Uchiha. The man had long grey hair, wore a pair of circular glasses, and a purple suit.

"Well, you sure do have an interesting team." The man spoke.

"What do you want Kabuto? Orochimaru told me to stay in the village and collect the scrolls. If I get caught with you, that's gonna be a problem."

Kabuto adjusted his glasses "I just thought I'd update your mission. The Shibuya boy on your squad, Orochimaru wants to study his kekkei genkai."

"So what you're asking me to do is bring him back to the hide out?"

"Yes. Bring him back alive so we can fully test his abilities."

Sasuke smirked "Bringing him back is possible, but alive, that might be a problem."

Kabuto gritted his teeth. Sasuke's constant disregard for Orochimaru-sama's orders infuriated him.

"You will follow your orders, Uchiha." He spat "That's all."

Kabuto vanished, only leaving behind leaves, dancing in the air.

"Bastard."

"And just who might you be talking about."

The voice of Hikaru caught Sasuke off guard.

"No one. Weren't you supposed to be getting the scroll?"

Hikaru smirked "Naruto-kun and Sakura-chan are bringing it back right now. I just thought I'd give the two some time to "connect"."

"You're an idiot, you know that?"

Naruto and Sakura came out of the building with the scroll in hand.

With their mission completed, the four man team made their way back to the village.

The entire trip, Sakura seemed uneasy about something. She had a feeling that their mission too easy, they had hardly encountered any resistance even though the item they were after was of great value. She knew something wasn't right, but she didn't was to worry her squad. She kept a smile on her face, and acted as if all was right.

The four reported to the hokage's office to give their report.

"Are you serious? No resistance at all?" Tsunade questioned.

"The shrine was completely empty besides the bodies of the monks. I'm not sure why we encountered no resistance, but something doesn't feel right about it." Sakura said.

Tsunade took a sip of the sake that was on her desk "I agree completely. I'll look more into this issue later. For the time being, you four can relax. You've earned it." she smiled.

"But wait, Obaa-chan. If Orochimaru is after all the scrolls, shouldn't we hurry before he gets them all?"

Tsunade gripped her cup so hard that it shattered in her hand "You will address me as Hokage-sama, or Tsunade-sama. And don't worry about the other scrolls. I've sent other squads to get the rest."

Naruto nodded "Okay, I guess that's fine. See you later Tsunade baa-chan."

He closed the door before she threw the bottom of sake at him.

As they walked out of the building, Sakura grabbed onto Sasuke's arm "So, Sasuke-kun." she smiled "What do you have planned for us?"

"What do you mean?

She released him "You promised that we'd have a real date when we got back to the village, remember?"

The conversation came back to him. He had remembered promising her a date for her 'special services', but he was hoping she would forget by the end of the mission.

"Well?" She asked once more.

"Not today Sakura-chan. I'm feeling kinda tired."

"I can't believe you! Why do you always cut out of something that's important to me!" she yelled.

The Uchiha boy was getting annoyed by her. He couldn't care less about their date, or her caring about it.

"I'm sorry."

"You're sorry? Sasuke-kun we haven't had any real time together for so long."

"I guess she doesn't count the hotel." Hikaru whispered to Naruto.

It was hard for him to control the urge to hit Hikaru, but more important things were on his mind. He wanted to see how this argument would develop.

"I know we haven't" Sasuke said "But I just need some rest. Just give me an hour or two, and I'm all yours." he donned his trademarked smile. This smile was the one that enchanted most girls of konoha.

"Well...I guess that's all right. Do you promise you'll come though?"

Sakura held his hand as she waited for his answer.

"Of course I will." he kissed her sweet lips, and then parted to his house.

"Now's your chance Uzumaki, she's all yours." Hikaru giggled.

Normally, Naruto would have beaten him for this, but this once he agreed. He thought maybe this was the chance that he could show Sakura he was the better choice.

"Okay guys, what do you wanna do until he gets back?"

Hikaru stretched "I got some business to take care of in town...which is a total lie, I just don't wanna be around you two."

He walked away from his teammates.

"Hey Sakura-chan, do you wanna...ya know...spend the day together?" Naruto tried not to blush, but he felt he was about to fail.

"Sure." She smiled.

The two sat down on the park benches near the ninja academy. The sun was shining and the sky was clear of any clouds. It was a beautiful day, a day that is just meant to be enjoyed.

"Wow, it's been so long since I've seen the academy up close." She said.

"Yeah, I remember I used to get into all kinds of trouble. Remember the lesson where we had to do the transformation jutsu?"

"How could I forget, you used your sexy jutsu, and Iruka sensei's nose bled all over the classroom."

They both giggled.

"Yeah, you'd be surprised how many guys it has that affect on."

The two reminisced about their early years as ninja. They remembered the D rank missions that Naruto always complained about, and their A ranked missions that he always tried to help on.

Sakura took a breath of the fresh air "This is really nice Naruto. I can't remember the last time we hung out like this."

"It's been almost a year. After you started dating Sasuke-kun, we hardly even talk anymore."

Sakura didn't know how to respond to this. She knew that most free time she had she spent with Sasuke, but she didn't realize how much it affected her friendship with Naruto.

"I'm sorry. I know I haven't had much time for you, but I promise you, that'll change."

Naruto shook his head in disbelief.

"Lately, I've felt that Sasuke-kun isn't that interested in me."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"We don't really talk much. It's mostly just a physical relationship than an emotional one. I guess I'm just not that special."

Naruto felt horrible for gaining happiness from his best friend's failing relationship, but he knew if there was any time to prove himself to her, this was it.

"That's not true. You're amazing."

These words tool her by surprise.

"You're always so generous, and you make people happy. You mean so much to me."

Sakura laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing Naruto-kun, it's just I remember you saying something like that to me a long time ago, but you were anything but happy after you said it."

Through her laughter, Naruto could see the sadness in her eyes.

"You're really strong, you know that Naruto-kun?"

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"You know what I mean. You have an unbreakable spirit; it's something I always admired about you."

She put her hand on his lap "Even now, almost a year later, even though you know I've gone so Sasuke-kun, you're still trying to make me yours."

Naruto looked away from her eyes "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It just shows how brave you are. You don't give up when everyone else would."

All he could get from what she was saying, was to give up. He may have always put on the appearance of having an unbreakable spirit, but it wasn't true. As he stood up Sakura embraced him.

"Sakura-chan..."

"You'll find someone Naruto-kun, someone much better than me. Someone who won't crush your heart when you put it out for them."

His attempt at winning Sakura's heart failed once more.

"I need to get back to Sasuke-kun, so I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

As he watched her run off into the sunset, he couldn't help but feel jealous of Sasuke once more.

Author's note: yes, I admit it, this chapter wasn't as good as the last one, but I promise, things will change. This was just a set up chapter so I could lay the stage for the next...and, does anyone wonder what's gonna happen with Sasuke? He's plotting against Konoha! What will happen as a result? :) wait and see.

~Happy Murder~


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Naruto was walking home under the dimly lit sky. The events of his second rejection played through his head. He wondered, if she admired him so much, what she still saw in Sasuke.

He wished he had someone to talk to. Whenever he felt troubled by something, Iruka would always be there for him to lend a listening ear, and sometimes even ramen. Since he was out on a mission, talking with him would be impossible.

He walked through the training grounds. The memories of the early days with his squad ran though his head. He walked up the post, where Kakashi had tied him. He remembered how good those days were, where every mission seemed more like an adventure, rather than a life or death situation.

He heard the footsteps of someone quietly approaching. He drew his kunai knife, and turned to face his possible attacker.

As he looked into the eyes of his assailant, he recognized the pale eyes, and long blue hair.

"H...hi N...Naruto-kun..."

He put his knife back in the holster on his leg "Sorry about that Hinata-chan. I'm...I'm not really myself today. So what are you doing here?"

"We just got back from out mission, and I usually like to come here to unwind and pay my respects to Shino-kun." She could sense something was really bothering him. He didn't sound like his usual confident, cocky self "Is everything okay?"

Naruto sighed, he wanted someone to talk to, so talking to someone as understanding as her would be good for him.

"No." He said, as he sank down to the grass. "I've tried so hard, but nothing seems to work out for me. I tried to show Sakura-chan how I feel, but she keeps going back to Sasuke-kun." his eyes started to tear "She says she loves me 'unbreakable' spirit, and that I'm a great guy, so why doesn't she want me? Maybe if I were more like Sasuke..."

Hinata giggled.

"Thanks for the support Hinata-chan." He sarcastically said.

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun, I'm not laughing at you, I promise. It's just, I know how you feel."

"How could you? You and Kiba-kun got together after the first time you asked."

She shook her head "Not him Naruto-kun, I'm talking about you."

The confused expression only made her laugh harder "Even after all this time Naruto-kun, you still didn't know?"

"Know what? I really don't feel like riddles Hinata-chan, please just tell me."

She sat next to him "I used to have the biggest crush on you from the time we started at the academy, to the time you left the village."

Naruto felt so stupid for not noticing.

"When you looked at Sakura with those caring eyes, I always wished that you'd loom at me that way."

"I...I'm sorry Hinata-chan...if I had known I..."

"No you wouldn't have." She cut him off "You wouldn't have stopped caring about Sakura, you're the type to always go for what you really want. I always loved that about you. You really are amazing Naruto-kun, so you don't need to be like anybody else besides yourself."

These words made Naruto feel much better. Hinata was never one to lie to friends in need, so he knew everything she said was absolutely genuine.

"Thank you so much Hinata-chan that really means a lot to me. But...how do I get Sakura to see me that way?"

"There's nothing you really can do." those words were not what Naruto had wanted to hear. Sometimes he preferred a sweet lie over bitter honesty. The smile on his face disappeared once more.

"Naruto-kun, please don't get upset. All I meant was, you can't control love." she put her hand on his shoulder "Just be yourself, trust me, everyone likes you just the way you are."

"It's getting late. We should go home about now." with a warm smile, she helped Naruto up from his place on the grass. As the reached the point where they would part, Hinata turned to the blonde ninja "One last thing Naruto-kun. You can't control love, but you can give it a gentle push in the right direction." And with that, she ran home to the Hyuga compound.

Naruto was shocked to hear Hinata say something so bold. She was always the shy type, so it seemed very out of character.

Sakura walked out of Sasuke's house. She made sure not to wake him as she closed his door. She walked down the stairs, with a sense of hallow satisfaction. She had gotten her time with Sasuke, but it wasn't spent doing what she really wanted.

"Hello, Love."

Sakura jumped as she heard the man's voice "Hikaru-chan! How many times have I told you to stop sneaking up behind me...how long were you there?"

He smirked "I'm everywhere Sakura-chan, you should know that by now." He folded his arms "But enough fun and games. We need to talk."

"About what?" she asked.

"You're horrible, you know that right?"

"What did I do?" Sakura was used to hearing condescending comments from Hikaru, it was just the type of person he was.

"Naruto-kun confesses his deepest feelings for you yet again, then you tell him he's great, and go sleep with Sasuke-kun."

"Shut up." these words hit Sakura hard. She didn't want to admit it to herself, but she shouldn't have done that.

"Poor Uzumaki, I guess Demons don't deserve happiness..."

Sakura punched Hikaru in his jaw "Don't you dare say that about Naruto-kun! Naruto and Sasuke both had to live without the comfort of having a family. They both live much harder lives than you and me. So I don't understand why you are always at their throats!"

Hikaru laughed "You seem to like people with a good sob story. It's really cute."

Sakura readied her fist to punch him once more

"True, it must be hard to have the love of your parents taken away from you, just like it would be hard to grow up without parents. I would understand if my family was worth remembering."

"How dare you say that! Who in the would disrespect their family like that!"

"The person who killed them." He said coldly.

Sakura couldn't believe what she heard "you..."

"Killed them all. My brother, and my parents."

"W...why would you do such a horrible thing. You're no better than Itachi you murderer!"

Hikaru faced away from the pink haired girl "I guess you're right. I'm nothing but a heartless killer."

"Okay you two, I think enough has been said for one night." Kakashi was standing in front of Sakura and Hikaru with his face buried in his book. "Hikaru, it's late. You should go home now."

Without one word being spoken, he walked off.

"Kakashi Sensei, did you know about this? Did you know Hikaru killed his family?"

He put his book away "Yes. It happened about seven years ago."

"Why didn't I hear about it?"

He sighed "Hikaru didn't want anyone to know."

"So the third Hokage actually listened to that murderer!"

"It wasn't a murder, it was self defense."

Sakura didn't know how to respond.

"The Shibuya clan has two very unique kekkei genkai. The first is the ability to mirror another clan's kekkei genkai or specific chakura trait when in combat with them; the other is to keep the kekkei genkai. The last one is the rare trait. Anyone who had it was attacked attacked and killed for their jutsu to be studied and taken."

"So...Hikaru has both?"

Kakashi nodded "Hikaru was almost killed by his parents and brother. He had a sister, he cared about her more than anyone else. She died protecting him. After she died, he killed his parents and brother using a particularly strange jutsu. A jutsu where he used his bones as blades."

Sakura felt horrible for calling him a murderer. She had no idea that something that horrible happened to him.

"So, I think that you should apologize to him. You might have stirred up some bad memories."

He began to walk off "You should learn to mind your tongue."

It was only then that Sakura started to see how much she could have hurt Hikaru's feelings. In one day, she had successfully hurt two people she cared about.

She ran as fast as she could so that she might have a chance to catch her team mate. With every step she took, she felt worse about what she had done. She thought Hikaru wouldn't forgive her, and she knew she didn't deserve his forgiveness.

As she fought back her tears, she trudged onward.

She sew him walking into his family's old compound.

He looked entranced, so she decided to follow him in. She made sure to keep a safe distance so she wouldn't be noticed.

The compound was bigger than anything she had seen before. She watched as he staggered into the last room on the. She started thinking of what to say to properly apologize to him. Nothing she thought of would be good enough.

She walked into the dark room. She looked around for her teammate. He was in the left corner of the room. His face was buried in his knees.

"...Hikaru-chan..."

He looked up at her. He pointed to the floor panel next to her.

She looked at what he was pointing to.

"...What is it?"

"That exact panel is where my Onee-chan was killed."

She didn't know what to say.

He pointed to the floor panels where he was sitting "And this is where my parents were killed. Wanna know how?"

Sakura was still shocked by what he was telling her.

*Flashback*

(Seven years in the past)

Hikaru was walking back to the leaf village with his uncle, aunt, and sister. They were returning from a festival.

Hikaru clung to the arm of his sister Haruna.

Haruna was fifteen. She had long black hair with a white streak down the left side of her bangs, and soft Orange eyes.

The orange eyes were the defining traits of the Shibuya clan.

"Onee-chan, do you think they'll have a festival as great as this one again? Do you?"

She laughed "Of course they will. All there festivals are better than the previous ones."

"Will you go with me? Please?"

"I couldn't think of anyone I'd rather go with more."

Hikaru sister was very gentle and kind. She always had a soft spot in her heart for her little brother, and he loved her just as much. No matter where they went, he would always cling her as if his life depended on it.

As they sun set, the four reached the forest leading to the village.

Hikaru's uncle stopped "What is it Oji-san?" Haruna asked.

She then saw three shuriken headed towards her from the trees. She grabbed Hikaru, and bumped back before they could harm either of them.

"Show yourself!" Their uncle cried out.

They heard the leaves shake. Five ninja surrounded them. Each ninja had a unique trait. The most unique, was the ninja who had six arms.

"What should we do with them Kimimaro?" He asked.

"The answer to that should be obvious." the man said in an emotionless tone "Kill them all."

The six armed man smirked.

Haruna held Hikaru close to her "Don't worry Hikaru, I'll protect you." she whispered.

Their aunt and uncle prepared themselves for combat. Kimimaro forced his usual bone sword out of the palm of his hand.

Hikaru had never seen anything like this before. This jutsu amazed him.

Their uncle quickly preformed his hand signs.

He put his arched index finger to his mouth, and activated the fireball jutsu.

Kimimaro dogged only by the width of a hair, and darted for the uncle.

Before he had time to react, Kimimaro had impaled his heart. As his body dropped to the ground, he did the same to the aunt.

Haruna backed away slowly, with a protective grip on Hikaru.

The man with two red dots on his forehead ran to end the lives of the two. Hikaru analyzed the man and his jutsu. He carefully studied the bone, as well as the chakura that flowed through it.

Haruna closed her eyes, and prepared for her life to be ended. As Kimimaro neared his target, he lifted his arm, and struck at.

His followers were shocked to see that his attack had been blocked.

Kimimaro looked at Hikaru, who held the same bone sword as he did.

Kimimaro dropped the bone, and moved his hand to his spine.

He felt a hand grab his before he could pull the bone out.

He looked to see who would dare to stop him.

"Now now Kimimaro, don't you think you should spare the poor thing."

The man, who stopped him from performing the final blow, was his master, Orochimaru.

Haruna grabbed Hikaru and ran as fast as she could, hoping that they wouldn't be followed.

"Onee-chan...Who were those people?"

"I don't know Hikaru, but I don't care to find out right now."

She knew if she looked back, it would only slow her down. She ran until she saw the gates of the village.

In the main room of the Shibuya compound, Haruna told her parents everything. They identified one of the men as Orochimaru, one of the third Hokage's students. She learned about his sick obsession for experimenting on ninja to uncover secrets of chakura. She figured that the only reason he had pared Hikaru, was to do this to him.

"I wouldn't worry too much about it Haruna. Hikaru rarely leaves the village, so he's in no real danger." Her father said.

"Yeah, nothing will happen to your precious Hikaru." Spat Yuji.

Yuji, her older brother hated how she was so protective of Hikaru. He always thought she was weak because of it.

"Why do you hate him so much Onii-chan?"

He smirked "He's so damn weak. He doesn't deserve to be called a Shibuya. He's worthless."

Haruna banged her fist on the ground "Hikaru isn't weak at all!"

"He's still a genin. You were already a chunin by his age."

"His level doesn't matter!" She and Yuji would always fight about Hikaru.

Just then, Hikaru ran into the room.

"Speak of the brat." Yuji said.

"Onee-chan! You need to see this!"

She smiled and walked over to her brother.

He held out his palm, and pushed a bone through. As it came out, the blade formed at the tip.

"It's so strange, even though I'm not around that guy, I can still use his jutsu." he looked up at Haruna's face, expecting to see the proud smile she usually wore. Instead, he was greeted by a look of utter shock and fear.

"Onee-chan?"

He looked around the room; everyone was staring at him with the same look.

His brother wore his usual evil smirk "Looks like I stand corrected, I guess he isn't worthless."

He stood up. Haruna stood in front of Hikaru "Onii-chan, back away right now."

She saw the look of burning desire in his eyes. She looked to her parents for help, but saw the same look in their eyes.

"Onee-chan...What are they doing?"

"Just stay behind me Hikaru." She drew the sword she had on her back "I swear of you don't step back, I'll kill you all."

"Don't be foolish Haruna. Just give him to us." Her mother said.

"Okaa-san...how could you do this to your son."

Yuji was the first to make a move; Haruna swung her sword, only slightly grazing his left cheek.

"You really are gonna die for that brat, aren't you?"

She remained silent.

"Well fine, have it your way." he ran to the side where Hikaru wasn't guarded. Haruna immediately turned to defend him.

Yuji donned a wicked smirk. He threw a kunai in her direction, which made contact with her throat.

"Onee-chan!" Hikaru screamed as she fell backwards. He could hear her choking on her own blood, ad she desperately tried to say 'Run Hikaru'.

Yuji laughed "Wow, she actually did die for you. I expected her to flake out."

Hikaru stayed by his sister's side as his tears spilled onto her bloody corpse.

"Don't worry; you'll be with her shortly." Yuji stepped forward to claim his prize. He saw a bone come out of Hikaru's forearm. Hikaru penetrated his brother's neck without hesitating.

In a blind rage, he used every bone in his body to viciously murder his parents.

*End Flashback*

Hikaru wiped the tears from his eyes "I kept my Onee-chan's sword, so I could have something to remember her by." he wiped his eyes once more "I can never repay her for her kindness. She was always too good to me."

Sakura embraced Hikaru as he wept.

"A while after all that happened, I found someone. He was like the brother I always wanted. I promised on the grave of my Onee-chan, that I would always look out for him, just like she did for me."

"Do you mean Naruto-kun?" She asked.

He nodded "I don't mean to get in the middle of your and Sasuke-kun's relationship, I just can't see Naruto-kun upset and not do anything about it."

Sakura just let him cry on her shoulder until he felt better. She saw a new side of Hikaru. A side she was sure that no one had seen in many years. This side made him seem like a really sensitive human being.

As his tears stopped, he pushed Sakura away.

They both stood up "Um...I think this goes without saying, but don't tell anyone about this. Okay?"

She smiled "I wouldn't think of it Hikaru-chan."

They both walked out of the compound. Sakura knew that Hikaru showing his deepest feelings to her was his own way of forgiving her.

For a moment, and just a brief one, Hikaru thought that Sakura acted like Haruna would in that situation.

Author's Note: So a lot happened. We get a deeper look into the past of Hikaru, and Naruto and Hinata have a deep conversation, and we see Kakashi for the first time :D... Oh yeah and we find out Shino is dead.

So next chapter we will see the action pick up :)

R&R

~Happy Murder~


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Author's note: I thought I should say what I feel, I know I got some comments about the whole 'sloppy seconds' thing and I feel I should explain stuff. First off, the two aren't even together yet, so that little bump (if you wish to view it that way) hasn't occurred yet. If you will please trust me and let a brotha work, you will see exactly what is gonna go down. :) so please, have faith in me, I promise not to disappoint.

Tsunade called a meeting with teams Kakashi, Kurenai, Asuma, and Gai.

"Hey Obaa-chan, why did you call us here?" Naruto asked.

"Maybe if you shut up she'll be able to tell us. Dumbass."

Naruto clenched his fist "Don't start with me Sasuke! If you do I'll..."

Tsunade cleared her throat "Now, if you two are done, I'd like to continue." Naruto glared at Sasuke.

"As of last night, all of the scrolls were collected. The threat of Orochimaru reaching his goal is now eliminated."

"Of course it is thanks to the power of youth!"

"That is absolutely right Gai Sensei."

Naruto was confused "Hey Tenten-chan, what are those two talking about."

She sighed "When we left the village to get our scroll, those two raced all the way to the temple. By the time me and Neji got there, they had killed very last man who was guarding it."

Naruto could imagine how angry Neji must have been. He usually loves being the center of attention ever since he became a jounin.

"That being said," The hokage continued "We still need to watch the activity of the sound village. So I will regularly put one of you squads on guard duty. Asuma, your squad will be the first."

"Of course Tsunade-sama."

"Crap! I had so much planned for today too." Ino said.

"I know what you mean; guard duty is such a damn drag."

The teams left, Squad seven was trying to think of how to spend their day.

"I just realized something." Naruto said "There is absolutely nothing to do in this village besides eat, go on missions, and train."

The other three never thought about it before, but they realized the blonde ninja was right. The reason they had such a hard time finding something to occupy their time, was because there was no good type of diversion.

"I could always kick the crap out of Sasuke-kun, that'd be fun to watch."

"Shut up Hikaru-chan. You know you have no hope of beating me in a fight. I could take you on and win without even trying."

Hikaru smirked "You talk tough, let's see if you can actually back that statement up."

The two ninjas stared into each other's eyes, waiting for someone to make the first move.

"Come on you two, don't do this." Sakura pleaded.

The two remained in a deadlock stare "Training ground in five minutes. Sound good to you Uchiha?"

"Why not right now?"

The two started running toward the training grounds to once again, try to take each other's lives.

'You can thank me later Naruto-kun, have fun with Sakura.'

Sakura sighed, "Those idiots, why do they always feel the need to compete with each other?"

"Forget about them Sakura-chan, at least we can hang out again."

She nodded "I guess you're right. Do you wanna go to the tea shop? I haven't been there in so long."

The reason she hadn't been there was because Sasuke did not like sweet foods, but she didn't have the heart to tell Naruto. She knew talking about Sasuke would only upset him.

As they walked together, Naruto was being his usual self. She found herself laughing more than she ever did when she was with Sasuke, or anyone else. She thought Naruto wouldn't want to talk to her after what happened just yesterday.

The bond those two shared was held together because of Naruto's capacity for forgiveness. No matter how much anyone hurt him, he never brought himself to hate them. Sakura knew this was the only reason why they had stayed friends for all these years.

When they reached the tea shop, they found an empty table.

"So what do you think we should get Naruto-kun?"

He looked at the menu. His mouth watered more and more as he looked at the sweets. They had updated their menu quite a bit. They used to only serve sweet dumplings, but now they had a wide selection of cakes and crepes.

"I think the mochi cakes look pretty good."

She agreed, and told the waitress their order.

They savored every last bit of the sweet rice while enjoying their green tea.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX

On the training grounds, Hikaru and Sasuke had begun their match. Sasuke was keeping a safe distance from Hikaru. He just focused on trying to hit him with his shrunken.

"Come on Uchiha, why haven't you used your sharingan yet? I've been dying to see it in action."

Sasuke ignored the boy's comment. He knew that if he used his sharingan, Hikaru would just use it against him.

Hikaru focused his chakura to his eyes "Byakugan!"

Hikaru ran to attack Sasuke using the Hyuga method of attack. Sasuke was hit by a glancing blow to the shoulder.

He felt his arm going numb. It was a big handicap not being able to use his sharingan, and using the curse mark was not an option at all.

As he tried to decide on an effective method of attack, Hikaru was coming back for another hit.

"Use your sharingan Uchiha! You know you're pretty much useless without it!"

Sasuke shot his dragon flame in the direction Hikaru was running, hoping to hit him.

He saw the flames being repelled in a circular motion.

"How the hell..." He then saw the spinning ball of wind and chakura, Hikaru was inside of

"Shit, I forgot about that damn rotation jutsu!"

Sasuke had to take a chance if he was to win this fight. He needed to use his sharingan to activate his chidori. If he worked fast enough, he could attack Hikaru, and deactivate his sharingan before he has a chance to take it.

Sasuke's chakura increased in his eyes, and the color changed from a dark brown, to a deep red.

As the lightning burst out of the palm of his hand, he ran to counter Hikaru.

Hikaru eyes burned with desire, and he picked up his pace.

The two ninja came closer to each other, neither one changing their path.

As their two hands clashed, the chakura mixed with lightning caused a laugh explosion.

The two stood back to back, waiting to see what the other had done.

The skin on the bottom Hikaru left arm was completely torn and the top was burnt. Blood rapidly flowed down to his fingertips.

All of Sasuke's chakura points in his right arms had been cut off. He wouldn't be able to perform any and signs for the rest of the fight.

As he deactivated his sharingan, he turned to see the damage he had done to Hikaru.

He smirked, "Looks like I win."

Hikaru began to laugh "What's so funny Shibuya?"

He faced Sasuke. His eyes were glowing red "This fight is far from over Uchiha."

Even after careful preparation, Hikaru was still able to copy Sasuke's sharingan.

Hikaru used the same hand seals he saw Sasuke use, and let chakura flow to his right hand "Ready? Here I come."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX

Naruto and Sakura walked to the grassy hill next to the river that flowed through the village.

The laid their back on the grass and watched the sun set "This is beautiful." Sakura said.

"Yeah, remember we would always hang out here when we were younger?"

"No. You just always hid here when you got in trouble and I didn't want you to get lonely." she laughed.

"Well, we were together."

"Yeah."

As the sun went down, fireworks began to shoot into the sky.

"Hey, is it just me, or did we see this once before."

"Yup." he said

"It's so weird that it would happen again."

They both sat up.

"Yeah, but this time it'll have a better ending."

She saw the smirk on his face "What do you..."

Just then, Naruto pressed his lips against Sakura's. Her eyes widened, she couldn't believe what he was doing. As the seconds passed by, she began to relax. She closed her eyes, and enjoyed the kiss she was sharing with Naruto under the fireworks.

When the final one's light disappeared, their kiss ended.

Naruto placed his hand onto Sakura's ever reddening cheek. They stared into the depths of each other's eyes as the elation subsided.

"N...Naruto-kun...I shouldn't have done that."

He withdrew from his blushing cherry blossom and averted his gaze. The increasing silence made him regret him impulsive actions. "I'm...I'm sorry Sakura-chan...I know you don't about me the way I..."

Before he could finish, he once again felt her sweet lips pressed against his once more. All doubt in his heart was replaced with newfound courage. Whether this was only an impulse of the moment, or the budding of love, all Naruto wanted, was savor the moments that he had the heart of his beloved Sakura.

As the moment progressed, their bodies acted on mere impulse.

Sakura knew this special moment, this new bond she was sharing with Naruto, was wrong. She knew she was betraying the person she had spent so long to make hers, but none of that mattered to her. Naruto was all she wanted at this moment.

She broke the kiss "Thank you Naruto-kun."

They began to walk off of the grove and back into town, wildly blushing anytime their hands lightly brushed against each other.

"I guess we should pick up the two hotheads before they kill each other."

"If they haven't done it already." She laughed.

They walked with their arms linked. Sakura leaned her head on Naruto's shoulder. The moon shone brightly on the two, as if they were the only ones who mattered in the village, and to them, they were.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX

By the time they reached the training grounds, Hikaru and Sasuke were both passed out on the ground.

Sakura had to use her healing jutsu to stop their bleeding.

As the two groggily woke up, Hikaru staggered up to his feet "I stood up first! So I win!" he fell as soon as he stopped talking.

"You two really fucked each other up." Naruto said.

"Shut up Naruto-kun." Sasuke spat.

The four walked off of the training area "Well, at least I got something useful out of that fight." Hikaru showed the group his sharingan. Sasuke still couldn't believe that he let Hikaru get it.

They reached the point where they would all part ways.

"Sakura-chan, wanna come with me to my house?" Sasuke asked with his seductive smile.

Sakura couldn't make eye contact with him. She hesitantly shook her head "I-I can't...I promised Naruto-Kun I'd walk home with him..."

"Are you serious?"

She didn't answer "Come on, you're really gonna blow me off like this?"

Sakura remained silent, the guilt made her unable to look in Sasuke's direction.

Sasuke turned his back on her "Fine, whatever."

Naruto grabbed Sakura hand "Don't worry about him Sakura-chan." she blushed.

Their fingers entwined as they slowly made their way to Sakura's house. Though she felt overwhelming guilt, the excitement she felt overshadowed that. She couldn't deny it, she had always had some feelings for Naruto, their new shared experience only helped to bring them out.

"Goodnight Naruto-kun and thank you for a wonderful time today."

She lightly kissed his cheek before walking into her house.

Naruto walked with beaming confidence. The day had gone so perfectly.

Hikaru quickly ran up, and began to walk beside Naruto "So Naruto-kun. Did anything interesting happen on your date?"

Naruto wanted to tell him, hell, he wanted to tell the world. He had finally kissed the girl he had loved for years, but he didn't want to embarrass her, and more importantly, not expose her to Sasuke.

"Fine, you don't need to tell me." Hikaru said "But you can at least say thank you."

"Why?"

"You idiot. The whole reason I kept Sasuke-kun occupied was so you could have time alone with Sakura-chan."

"What the hell are you talking about Hikaru-chan?"

"Do you really think I wanted to fight him? I got torn apart by his chidori. I know you haven't felt it, but it hurts like hell even to take a glancing blow."

Naruto never thought about that. He just thought that Hikaru wanted to prove he was better than Sasuke. "Thank you so much Hikaru-sama. I really owe you."

"Yes, you do. But the fact that it went well is payment enough." He smiled. "And your pay from our next mission."

"Hey!"

"Just kidding Naruto-kun."

Second Author's note: Okay :) so Sakura and Naruto share their first kiss, and if that wasn't enough of a shocker, Sakura denied Sasuke! What will happen with these newfound lovers, Will their relationship be as smooth as most fanfic readers want it to be? (spoiler alert) the answer is...in the next chapter :3, and when the hell is Sasuke gonna put Orochimaru's plan in action? All in due time my people :)

R&R, except for you Flying Fox.

The next chapter should be posted tomorrow.

Naruto: Hey Murder Root. I have a question.

Me: Naruto-kun, I kinda already ended the chapter, can't it wait?

Naruto: Why does it seem that Hikaru-chan has more lines than me in most of the chapters.

Hikaru: It's cuz I'm awesome.

Naruto: Hey! I'm the hero of this story! Me! Uzumaki Naruto!

Hikaru: Not anymore.

Naruto: The damn show is named after me!

Me: Boys, please calm down. Naruto-kun, you are the hero of this story, and your time to shine will come :)

Naruto: Really!? When?"

Me:...I'm afraid that's all the time we have. See ya.

Naruto: Hey no fair!

(If anyone can tell what I modeled this little parody preview after, I will view you as a true lover of Anime...not that my approval really means anything)


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

It was the break of dawn. The sky was not yet fully lit with the sun. Sakura walked out of her house to get a breath of fresh air. So many things had happened to her in just one day. Though she was happy about what happened with Naruto, she didn't know how she would tell Sasuke. It seemed no matter what decision she made, she would end up hurting someone. Even though Sasuke wasn't a caring boyfriend, he was still her boyfriend, and she had betrayed his trust. She walked to the old bridge where they used to wait for their Sensei who never showed up on time.

As if the universe sensed her turmoil, Sasuke was walking toward her.

She wasn't sure what she should do. Running would be useless because they would eventually see each other, and not talking to him would only make things worse.

Before she had a chance to think of what to do, Sasuke was next to her.

"G...good morning Sasuke-kun. How did you sleep?"

"Alone." he retorted. "What was up with you yesterday? You seem really on edge, like you're scared of me or something."

Sakura heart felt like it would beat out of her chest, she couldn't formulate any words in her head that would make things any easier.

"So what, are you just gonna stand there daydreaming or will you answer me?"

Sakura's hands were trembling. She wanted to run, but she knew she would never escape Sasuke. He would eventually find her, and ask his questions once more.

"Sasuke-kun...I..."

"You what? The question wasn't that hard, I just wanna know why you're acting so strange." He went to hug her, but Sakura pushes him away.

Sakura took a deep breath "Sasuke-kun...I can't do this anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"I can't do this. I don't want to be with you anymore." Sakura was trying her best not to show her tears.

"Why? What did I do? I always thought you liked being with me. You have wanted that since we were in the academy, am I right?"

She could tell by Sasuke's tone that he was less than amused.

"Well...yes...But we have no relationship anymore. All we ever do is sleep with each other; you hardly even show any interest in me."

"You weren't complaining the first time you gave yourself to me. Or have you forgotten?"

She shook her head "I haven't, but back then, you actually cared about me...or at least you did a good job pretending to."

Sasuke grabbed Sakura's hand "Sakura-chan," he said in a soft voice "Stop this. You and I both know this is a mistake." he leaned in for a kiss. Before his lips could make contact with hers, Sakura slapped Sasuke across the face.

"Stop...I told you I don't want you anymore...I already found someone else, someone who always treated me much better than you ever did. He was always there for me when you weren't, and he actually cared about my feelings when you didn't."

"If this guy is so great, why were you with me instead of him?"

"Because...because..."

"Because what Sakura-chan? Because you too busy acting like a ridiculous fan girl?"

"Stop it!" She yelled "I didn't leave you because I thought you would change! I thought you would get better over time, but you only got worse!"

Sasuke laughed "You really think that this other guy will be any different? Just out of curiosity, who is this 'Mr. Perfect'?"

Sakura clenched her fists, and stopped shaking. She knew that if Naruto were in this situation, he wouldn't cower in his presence, he would stand tall and proud.

"It's Uzumaki Naruto!"

The two didn't move. They remained silent; as Sasuke let her words sink in.

"Wow. I never thought you'd actually leave me for that loser."

"It wasn't a hard decision, he's just better than you." Sakura maintained her mask of confidence, though she worried about what Sasuke would do next.

He disregarded her comment and walked off. Sakura was very proud of herself. She stood up to him and expressed her true feeling. In her mind, nothing could possibly go wrong.

Naruto woke up with a smile on his face, one that was real. It had been so long since things have worked the way he had wanted them to. He had his first kiss with the girl he had always wanted to share it with.

He hopped out of bed, and opened his curtains letting the glorious bright light of the sun in.

He couldn't wait until he saw her again.

There was a knock at his door. He ran to answer it, desperately hoping it was Sakura. When he opened the door, he was not greeted by his pink haired angel, but her discontent ex boyfriend.

"Sasuke-kun? What are you doing here?"

He walked inside.

"Okay...I kinda didn't invite you in but, come on in."

Sasuke faced the blonde haired ninja "Naruto-kun."

"Yeah?..." His glare was powerful enough to frighten Naruto. He knew Sasuke must have found out something about what happened yesterday. He knew he would face the consequences of messing around with someone else's girlfriend, but he didn't expect it to happen so soon.

"Sakura-chan broke up with me."

"...I'm sorry to hear that...Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke looked at Naruto with his usual evil grin "Why would you be? She left me for you."

He looked into Sasuke's eyes which were burning with anger.

"Calm down. I didn't come here to hurt you."

Though Sasuke seemed to mean what he said, Naruto was still very apprehensive.

"So...what did you come here for?"

"To congratulate you. You finally got what you wanted."

He couldn't help but feel proud when he heard this.

"Besides, it's not like I wanted her anymore. I reaped the benefits of being in a relationship with her countless times."

"...What do you mean by that?"

"Come on Naruto-kun, you know exactly what I'm talking about. I'm pretty sure you've heard us, like at the hotel. There was a reason why I didn't want her to keep her voice down," he put his hand on his shoulder "I wanted you to hear every last cry of pleasure from her. So every time you're with her, she'll only be thinking of me, her first."

Sasuke walked out of his door "I'm not sure how you can even kiss those lips of hers, knowing where her mouth has been."

These words tore Naruto apart inside. When he kissed Sakura, he thought he had his very first triumph over Sasuke, instead he was only receiving his spoils.

He put the thought of Sasuke violating her body out of his mind. He wouldnt look at Sakura any differently than he has, or at least he would try his hardest not to.

Naruto and Sakura have been in a steady relationship for two months. There was hardly a moment where they were seen apart. They proudly displayed their affection publicly, and they had everyone's support.

Naruto and Sakura were yet again engaged in a kiss.

"Damn. You two need to give each other some room to breath." Hikaru said.

Sakura playfully stuck her tongue out at him "Don't be jealous Hikaru-chan."

"Ha! As if I would be jealous of you two."

The three laughed. Hikaru was very happy to see that Sakura and Naruto were happy together.

'Just try not to fuck it up, Blondie'

Sasuke had not been seen for quite some time. He rarely showed his face, and if he did, he never let his team mates see him. Naruto wondered if this was because of him being upset, or just because he didn't like being seen with his team. He never gave it much thought though. In his mind, the less he saw Sasuke, the better for him it would be.

"So Hikaru-chan. Do you know what day it is?" Sakura asked.

"...Friday?"

She sighed "Not even close." she held Naruto's and entwined their fingers.

"Exactly two months ago, Sakura-chan and I started dating."

Sakura looked into Naruto's eyes "I love you Naruto-kun, these months has been the absolute best."

"I feel the exact same."

Hikaru turned his head away "Oh god, please stop this mushy crap before I puke."

They laughed at him.

"So are you two gonna like, exchange gifts or something?"

"We will, but first I have a special gift to give Naruto-kun later."

Hikaru smiled "well congratulations you lucky bastard."

Sakura and Naruto walked into his house. They both took off their sandals and walked to his room.

As they sat on his bed, Naruto's heart was pounding; he had never experienced anything like this before. He was as excited as he was nervous. He looked into Sakura's beautiful emerald eyes. Her smile reassured him like it had always done in the past. He leaned in to kiss her. Their lips became closer at a slow, but steady pace. Before they made contact, Naruto stopped.

"Naruto-kun...what's wrong?"

He stood up. Sasuke's words which had lain dormant in his mind for months ran through his head.

'I not sure how you can even kiss those lips of hers, knowing where her mouth has been.'

"If you're nervous, we don't need to do it." She said. She reached out to grab his hand, but he pulled back.

'Every time you're with her, she'll only be thinking of me.'

"...Naruto-kun, are you okay?"

He ran out of his room, and made his way to the door.

Sakura had no idea what just happened. She had never seen Naruto that uncomfortable before. She was worried that she had offended him somehow, or if she had said something she shouldn't have. The more she started to blame herself, the more tears leaked into her eyes.

'Naruto-kun...whatever I did, please...forgive me. You're the one person I could never lose.'

She walked out of his house, with tears running down her cheeks.

She walked down the street in a complete daze. She wondered how a day so significant to both of them, could go so horribly wrong.

She then felt someone put a hand on her shoulder. She turned around, hoping to see her beloved whisker faced boy.

"Narut..." she stopped as she realized who it was.

"Sorry, but I think you've got the wrong guy." Hikaru said. "Why the hell do you look so upset? I thought Naruto would be chode deep by now."

His joke only made her more upset, and it was quite apparent that he said something he shouldn't have.

"Hey, Sakura-chan it was only a joke. I didn't mean to offend you in any way."

She wiped her eyes "It's okay Hikaru-chan."

He led her to the closest bench "So what's wrong Sakura-chan?"

She couldn't look in his bright orange eyes, she would only cry harder if she did "Well, we were on Naruto-kun's bed...and before he even kissed me he ran off." she wiped the tears in the corners of her eyes "I don't know what I did wrong...I really don't..."

He hugged Sakura "Don't worry. Just live it to Hikaru nii-chan. I'll find out what's wrong."

"Hikaru-chan..." She grabbed his shoulder "If you do find him, please tell him that I love him. I really don't know what I'd do if I didn't have him in my life."

Later that night, when the sun had set on the eventful day, Naruto was sitting at his usual hang out spot, the Ichiraku ramen shop. In front of him was a half finished bowl that he didn't look like he had any intention of touching.

Teuchi and Ayame had never seen him too depressed to even finish a bowl of ramen. They could both tell something was seriously wrong with him.

"I should have figured you'd come here." The Shibuya boy entered the restaurant.

"I don't really feel like talking Hikaru-chan."

He turned his head away from Naruto "Who said I wanted to talk to you?, Maybe I just wanted a bowl of ramen." he faced Ayame "I'll have what he's having please."

The father and daughter began to cook his meal as they were instructed.

"So tell me, what happened with Sakura-chan?"

He didn't answer.

"C'mon, you can tell me. If you do, I'll pay for your bowl, and maybe even buy you another."

Naruto only stared into his bowl, not even trying to pay attention to what Hikaru was saying.

"Okay look you little bastard, I'm trying to be nice, so the least you can do is answer me!"

"I never asked you to try! I only wanna be left alone!"

Hikaru grabbed the collar of Naruto's shirt "You can't always deal with your problems by yourself! You need to realize that some people actually give a fuck about you! Sakura-chan is worried sick about why you left, so the least you can do is give your reasoning."

"Hey, if you two are gonna fight, take it outside..." Teuchi said

"Sorry." He released Naruto from his grip "But you know I'm right Naruto-kun. I'm not asking you to go back to her; I'm just asking what happened."

Naruto calmed himself "About a month ago, Sasuke-kun said something to me. He told me that no matter how much I was 'with her', she would always be thinking of him. When I looked at her, all I could think about was what he said..."

Ayame handed Hikaru his bowl. He separated his chopsticks, and began to slurp his noodles "You do realize you're a complete idiot, right?"

"What I supposed to do, Sasuke-kun was right, he had her first...I'm only getting what he left behind."

Hikaru loudly slurped his noodles once more "Is that really what you think of her? If so, I'm very disappointed in you."

"What do you mean?"

"Yeah, Uchiha was Sakura-chan's first, nothing can ever change that, but if you're too focused on her past that you can't see the future she wants with you, then you really don't deserve to have her."

"But...Sasuke-kun is..."

"Sasuke-kun is no longer Sakura-chan's concern. She doesn't care about him, so why do you?"

Naruto knew what Hikaru was saying was right. Sasuke had only said that stuff to mess with his head, and it worked perfectly.

"Hikaru-chan...I really am an idiot...How could I do this to Sakura on today of all days..." Naruto felt horrible. He was willing to abandon the one person who had always been there for him because of what Sasuke, someone he hated said.

"I'm glad you see that Naruto-kun. If I were you, I'd go apologize to her."

Naruro nodded. He reached in his pocket to pay for his bowl "Just go, Naruto-kun. I'll take care of things here."

Hikaru was proud of him. His unbreakable spirit was something to truly admire about the knuckle headed ninja.

When Naruto arrived at her house, he was completely out of breath. He had no idea what he would say to apologize; nothing in his mind seemed good enough.

When he knocked on her front door., he knew he had to make a good excuse to her parents is he had any hope of seeing Sakura this late at night.

A woman opened the door.

"Hello Mrs. Haruno, may I..."

Naruto looked at the person holding the door. It was Sakura.

"...Naruto-kun."

She embraced him tightly. The two held each other for what seemed like hours, they were just content with being in the presence of each other.

Sakura let Naruto in, and the two went up to her room.

"Naruto-kun, I'm so glad you came back to me." she smiled "I thought you were angry with me."

"Of course I wasn't Sakura-chan. I was just being an idiot. I promise I'll never make you worry like that again."

The two shared the kiss that they had tried to have earlier in the day. Though it was long over due, it was no less appreciated.

Naruto put his hand on Sakura's lap "Sakura-chan...may I?"

She giggled "Of course you can Naruto-kun. This is my gift to you."

The two undressed each other, thoroughly examining each other's body. Naruto was mesmerized by her natural beauty.

Naruto moved his hand closer to Sakura's womanhood. As he was about to touch her, he looked to her to see if it was really what she wanted. As if she knew what he was thinking, she spread her legs wider.

Naruto began to rub Sakura's wet sex with his index and middle finger. As he increased his pace, he heard her cries of pleasure grow louder.

Every doubt, every worry, and every word Sasuke had said, disappeared from his mind. He no longer cared about Sasuke's involvement with Sakura, she was his now, and that's all that mattered to him.

Naruto put pressure on her her sensitive area as he rubbed. Sakura could feel herself about to climax. Naruro focused only on this newfound sensitive spot, and vigorously moved his fingers back and forth. Sakura trapped Naruto's hand between her legs.

Naruto felt her wet climax pour into his hand.

She sat up after she caught her breath. She seductively smiled at her lover "It's my turn now."

She ran her hand down his well toned chest, down to his member. He was very excited, and she was glad she could make him feel this way.

She brought her mouth closer to him. As her tongue met his member, Naruto gasped. He had never felt anything this amazing before. She put her mouth around it and proceeded to pleasure him. With only a few strokes of her tongue, Naruto reached his climax.

Sakura happily accepted it. Naruto was embarrassed that he couldn't control himself.

"...I'm sorry Sakura-chan..."

She just smiled "Don't be, I'm glad you enjoyed it."

Naruto was relieved "But," she said "We're not done yet."

Naruto's heart pounded, he was going to become one with her.

She lay on her back, as she waited for Naruto to enter her. Naruto wasn't sure where to enter. He was worried that Sakura would find his inexperience annoying. He felt her hand grab his. She placed his hand on her entrance "I'm here Naruto-kun."

As he held Sakura's hands, entwining their fingers, Naruto pushed his member into her warm sex.

"Yes Naruto-kun! That's it!" She cried.

Naruto began to thrust his pelvis. Sakura held him close to her. He felt her soft breasts come into contact with his chest. His instincts took over as he was overcome with the pleasure of being one with Sakura. He pushed himself into Sakura harder and faster than he did before. Sakura was no longer able to speak; her cries of pleasure were all that came out of her mouth.

With only a few final thrusts, Naruto and Sakura both reached their limit.

The two fell asleep in each other's arms. The feeling they felt was indescribable, all they knew what that they had lost interest in everything else, all that mattered to them, was each other.

Sasuke was meditating in his apartment. He focused his chakura to every point in his body. He felt a cool breeze from the window. He looked toward it, and saw a bird perched on his windowsill in the light of the moon. It had message attached to its neck. Sasuke took the note out of its carrying case. Only two words were written on it.

It's time.

-Orochimaru

Author's note: idk why, but the song Ocean and Atlantic by Mayday Parade reminds me of this song, whatever, on a more important note, Things take a drastic turn for the better, then worse, and then much better for Sakura and Naruto :). I tried to make the sex scene as tasteful as I possibly could because I truly hate vulgar and mindless sex scenes in a romance story, it ruins it. And now we see Sasuke has just agreed to commence with the plan, what will happen? Find out in the next chapter of The Will to Live :)

btw I won't be able to post tomorrow, but I'll probably have one or two chapters for Sunday

Also, this chapter really served as a filler chapter so the action can pick up, but it still was important.

But anyway happy Friday :)

~Rebecca Black Sucks~ and ~Happy Murder~


	7. Chapter 7

Sasuke was, and forever would be, the property of Orochimaru. He thought he had killed Orochimaru before he went on his mission to murder Itachi. He only found out the snake was never dead. He had used the reanimation jutsu to redirect his original body that is what he had killed.

Sasuke grabbed every tool he would need to complete his mission. He had his kunai and shuriken in his pouch and his snake sword on his back.

He took time to think about what he had to do.

'First I need to steal the scrolls, probably shouldn't the group guarding them so they can spread word of who stole them. If I'm lucky, the team they'll send after me will be my own, and then I'll defeat Hikaru and bring him with me...'

He fell onto his bed 'how the fuck am I supposed to do that. There's no way I'll be able to defeat him using my usual jutsu because he has the sharingan now...my only option is to use the curse mark...but there's also Naruto...'

The more he thought about the task at hand, the more of an arduous task it seemed to become. Sakura leaving him placed more of a burden on him than he needed. If things had gone according to planned, Sakura would have remained his and he could have used her as his mindless follower, blinded by a false love that he had created.

He stood up and looked to the bright light of the full moon "I guess tonight we'll figure out who's the strongest of us all."

He jumped onto the railing of his window, and made his way to the hokage's office. The night was filled with the sound of chirping crickets and crying cicadas. He made sure to stay as silent as possible. During these times of night, the ANBU patrolled the village. He didn't know exactly what Orochimaru's obsession with Hikaru was, but being that he had no choice other than to obey, he would carry out his mission, and keep his life as payment.

As he stood in front of the building's doors, he forsook all thoughts of peace and happy memories of his friends, such things would be useless now. All he had to do now, was kill to survive. He opened the doors, walked down to the inevitable future that lay ahead.

Neji, Tenten, and Rock Lee were standing guard over the scrolls. Tenten was busy sharpening her weapons, Lee was doing push-ups on his thumbs, and Neji was keeping a watchful eye with his byakugan.

"Lee-kun, Tenten-chan, someone's coming."

Both readied themselves "Who is it? Can you tell?" Tenten asked.

Neji concentrated on the person who was slowly but steadily making his way to the three shinobi.

"It looks like Uchiha Sasuke." The two other team mates relaxed "Neji-kun, why did you get us all worked up for nothing?" Tenten had been looking to test out her new weapons on someone. Waiting around for someone to attack them was very tedious work.

Sasuke walked down the curved hallway. He activated his sharingan and prepared to meet whatever team was waiting for him.

Lee smiled brightly as he saw the ninja stop in front of them "Sasuke-kun! It is very nice to see you. What brings you here at this time of night?" He then noticed Sasuke's sharingan. The only times he had ever seen Sasuke use his sharingan was when he was about to fight.

"Sasuke-kun...What are you doing?" He asked once more.

Sasuke gave no reply. His dark stare stuck fear into the strong heart of Rock Lee. Neji and Tenten watched Sasuke as he stood motionless. They knew something was about to happen, but they weren't sure what.

Sasuke brought his hand to his sword. As he drew it, Neji got into his fighting stance "Uchiha-san, by drawing that weapon in our presence, I will have no choice but to take it as a sign of an attack."

Sasuke continued to slowly unsheathe his sword.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Neji had no true intention of picking a fight with him, but it was his duty to protect the scrolls from any aggressors, even if the aggressor was a leaf shinobi.

"If you wish to fight me then go ahead, just know that I won't hold back at all." Sasuke's arrogant tone was enough to aggravate the Hyuga genius. He ran to Sasuke to put an end to his life.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX

A light breeze blew through the window of Sakura's room. She slept peacefully with Naruto in her arms.

"Wake the hell up!"

Naruto and Sakura jumped up out of their peaceful slumber. They looked to see who the one who was responsible was.

"Hikaru-chan, what the hell are you doing in my..." Sakura realized she wasn't clothed and hid under her covers.

"You jerk! Why didn't you tell me I wasn't dressed!?"

Hikaru turned his head "I honestly couldn't care less Sakura-chan; we have more important things to worry about."

"Like what?" The blonde boy asked sheepishly.

"The scrolls have just been stolen."

The two couldn't believe what they had heard. The scrolls were under constant guard, and the ANBU were stationed all throughout the village. They thought there was no way that a sound ninja could enter the village.

"You two get dressed; I'll fill you in on the mission when you're done." Hikaru left them to get dressed in peace. He waited for them outside Sakura's front door for them to come down. In a matter of seconds, his team met with him. Hikaru began leading them to their target.

"So, how did you find out?" Naruto asked.

Hikaru took a deep breath as he readied himself to explain the situation "Neji-kun knocked on my door not too long ago, he had many gashes and had been impaled twice in his arm. He told me that the person who stole the scrolls defeated his teammates in the early start of the fight." Naruto and Sakura couldn't believe what they were hearing. This team consisted of three of the best ninja in the village. Picturing them being defeated that badly was almost unthinkable.

"Did you alert Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked.

Hikaru gritted his teeth "I was getting to that. The reason Neji came to me first, was because Sasuke-kun is the one who stole them."

The other teammates were at a complete loss for words. Sasuke was given a second chance after betraying the village once. After receiving no punishment for his crimes against the village, he betrayed it once again.

"So Naruto-kun, what do you want to do when we find him?" Hikaru asked.

"Why are you asking me?"

"You were the one who wanted to save him last time, so I figured it'd only be right to let you decide what to do this time."

Hikaru trusted Naruto's judgment completely. Whatever he decided, he would do his best to help put the plan into action.

Naruto gave no answer; he just remained in deep thought.

"Naruto-kun..." Sakura knew what Naruto was feeling. He was feeling an overwhelming amount of pain and anger. He almost died trying to bring Sasuke back the first time, and Sasuke still betrayed him.

"If you can't decide, then...

"No." he cut Hikaru off "I promised myself after we brought Sasuke-kun back to the village the first time, that if he ever betrayed us again I'd kill him."

These words left his teammates cold. Though it was not something they ever expected to come from Naruto, they knew it wasn't any less right.

"Good choice, I hope you can actually go through with it." Hikaru looked to the blonde ninja, expecting some heroic speech about how he would never go back on his word, but he didn't. He remained silent, as the hatred he felt grew stronger.

'I have no doubt you will try to kill him Naruto-kun...I just don't know of we have the strength to pull it off...'

These were Hikaru's last thoughts as they ran out of the village.

They reached the forest outside of the gates. They jumped up from the ground to run on the on the branches of the trees.

"How are we supposed to track him down? He could have gone in any direction." Sakura stated.

"Don't worry, that's what I'm here for." Hikaru focused his chakura to his hands, feet, and nose. "Ninja art beast mimicry: shikyaku no jutsu!"

Hikaru began running like a dog. He used the focused chakura in his nose to pick out Sasuke's scent in the air. "Just follow me. I can smell him." Sasuke's scent carried the heavy scent of iron. He smelled like he was covered in the fresh blood of the ninjas he cut down.

"Uzumaki Naruto!" the voice of a beat cried out.

Naruto could see his piercing red eyes staring into his "I can kill him for you."

He didn't respond to the demon

"My offer still stands, if you break the seal, I can grant you all of my power." The thought of this happening made the demon smirk his devilish foxy grin.

"What do you say, Uzumaki Naruto?"

Naruto shook his head "I'll be damned if I let you kill him. That responsibility lies with me and me alone."

The demon clawed at the cage that sealed him inside of the boy. "Besides, even if the seal is broken, my father will reseal it."

The demon laid its head to rest "My power is still at your disposal when you need it."

Naruto had no intention of depending on the fox's power to win the fight. He would kill Sasuke with his own hands and his own chakura.

"We're close." Hikaru announced.

The three could see the last Uchiha up ahead. He wore a bloodstained white kimono with a purple ribbon wrapped around the waist above his dark blue pants. His sword was tucked under the ribbon.

Naruto balled his fists, and picked up his pace.

Sasuke looked behind him and saw the blonde ninja darting toward him.

"Sasuke!"

He could see the intensity in Naruto's eye. He was clearly after his blood.

Sasuke focused his chakura in his eyes and activated his sharingan.

Naruto came at Sasuke with full force, and threw the first punch. No matter how hard Naruto tried to hit him, his sharingan allowed him to see his every move before he made it.

Naruto's next punch made contact with Sasuke's palm. He held the aggressing ninja as he fired his dragon flame.

"Naruto-kun!" Sakura cried as she saw the flames engulf his body.

When Sasuke's flame subsided, most of Naruto's skin was burned off.

Sasuke laughed as he saw the ninja's burnt and bleeding body "Pathetic, you came all this way just to die by my flame."

Sakura and Hikaru stared at Naruto's motionless body.

Hikaru released his shikyaku no jutsu, and replaced it with his sharingan. While Sasuke was focused on Naruto, Hikaru forced a powerful burst of lightning from the palm of his hand, and charged for Sasuke.

Sasuke released Naruto's fist, and countered Hikaru's attack with lightning charges from both arms.

Because of the extra power, Hikaru's attack was canceled out, and used against him.

"I've noticed something about your jutsu Shibuya. You're only able to copy the first thing you see. If you copy a jutsu before you see all of its properties, then you're left with the weakest effect."

Hikaru grabbed the collar and waist of Sasuke's outfit, and made lightning release from both palms.

Sasuke jumped back before the jutsu had time reach him.

"I don't understand...how did you..."

"You're not that bright, are you Uchiha? I might not have seen all of your jutsu, but I still have the sharingan, I can copy your jutsu."

Hikaru looked to Naruto to see if he was okay. He saw Naruto's skin quickly being regrown onto his body, as he stood up.

"That was embarrassing, but that's the last time you'll get such an easy hit on me."

Hikaru smiled "It's good to see you're okay Naruto-kun."

Sakura jumped in between her two teammates.

"Let's end this, once and for all." She said.

Naruto preformed the kage bunshin no jutsu making ten copies of himself.

Sasuke drew his sword.

Sakura ran to get her hit on Sasuke. Three clones of went to Naruto to cover her. As Sasuke lowered his blade to meet Sakura's chakura charged hand, one clone took the hit, while another held Sasuke's arms. Before Sasuke could use his full body chidori, Sakura's fist made contact with his chest.

The blow forced him to plummet from the tree to the ground.

"Holy shit! Nice hit Sakura-chan!"

"Wow that might have been the first complement you ever gave me Hikaru-chan."

Blood came out of Sasuke's mouth every time he coughed. He felt that more than one of his ribs were shattered, and he could hardly stand.

His former teammates surrounded him "Uchiha Sasuke, for your betrayal of your home village as well as the shinobi who defend it, I, Uzumaki Naruto will end your life."

Naruto walked to Sasuke, and readied his kunai.

Sasuke moved before Naruto had the chance to strike.

"I'm not done yet."

Naruto focused chakura through his body stronger and faster than he had before. He felt his power begging to rise as the rims of his eyes became red

"Then let me end you!"

Hikaru replaced the sharingan with the shikotsumyaku

"I cover you this time Naruto-kun."

Hikaru ran with four spiked bones extending out of his forearm. He ran at the speed that rivaled Rock Lee's.

He raised his arm as he prepared to run Sasuke through. A smile spread across his face, their mission was almost complete.

"Hikaru!" Naruto called out.

He didn't understand why Naruto sounded so worried, he was on the verge of finishing off the greatest traitor of the leaf since Itachi. When Hikaru tried to move, he couldn't, he then noticed he was staring straight into the red eyes of the Uchiha boy. Hikaru looked at his arm, it hung limply as the bones he used as spikes were destroyed, and his stomach had been run through by Sasuke's chidori.

"...No..."

Sasuke pulled his arm out of Hikaru's torso and watched as he fell to the ground.

"Hikaru-chan!" Sakura ran to aid him before he died if severe blood loss.

Sasuke prepared to take out the last remaining Shibuya. He lifted his right arm, and formed a lightning dart.

"Odama rasengan!"

When Sasuke heard Naruto's battle cry, he had already taken a direct hit. He was sent flying in the opposite direction.

"Sakura-chan, take Hikaru-chan and go back to the village."

"But Naruto-kun, what about you?"

"I'm gonna finish what he started, and kill this bastard."

Sakura wanted to help him, but she knew if she did, Hikaru would have absolutely no chance of living. Even if she brought him to the village his chances were still very slim, but a slim chance was better than nothing. She took Hikaru on her back, and began to make her way back to the village.

"Be careful Naruto-kun...I'll come back for you."

When the dust cleared, Naruto could see Sasuke staggering to his feet. His skin was badly torn where Naruto had hit, he wouldn't be able to last much longer.

Naruto used the kage bunshin no jutsu once more to make two copies of himself. He held out his palms and focused his chakura as the clones spun it "It all ends right here."

Sasuke charged his chakura for his final assault as well.

The spinning balls of chakura and wind in Naruto's hands grew larger every second, until he finally formed their shrunken forms.

Sasuke fused his chakura with the very elements of the earth causing dark clouds and blustery winds to fill the area.

"Rasenshuriken!" He launched the two wind shuriken at the rogue ninja. It destroyed every tree that stood in its path.

With his chakura fully charged, Sasuke was ready to counter attack "Kirin!" directly from the clouds above; a strong wave of lightning was released.

With no escape, both ninja closed their eyes, and waited for their opponent's jutsu to make contact.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX

Sakura ran as fast as she could, trying not to move Hikaru too much.

"We're almost there Hikaru-chan, you're gonna be fine." she said these words mostly to comfort and readied herself. In truth she wasn't sure if she could get him to the hospital in time. His blood was seeping through her dress at an alarming rate.

"You idiot..." he whispered. "...you should have focused...on the mission and not me..." blood dripped from his mouth as he spoke.

"Stop talking, you need to save your energy..."

He smiled weakly "...we both know exactly how this is gonna turn out..." he shut his eyes tightly as the pain in his arm and lower stomach became more unbearable "I... don't think I'll make it...Sakura-chan."

Tears began to steam down her cheek "You're gonna be just fine...I know you will..."

"You...protected me once again...thank you so much...Onee-chan..." Hikaru's head hung on Sakura's shoulder.

"Please Hikaru-chan...hang on..."

By the time she had reached the village hospital, she could no longer feel his pulse, and his breathing had stopped. The nurses rushed him to surgery as soon as Sakura brought him in. She fell to her knees and let the tears trapped in her eyes escape. She had failed to move fast enough, and because of her, Hikaru's life hung by a wilting thread.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX

Captain Yamato and Kakashi had just made it to the battle scene between Sasuke and Naruto. The entire area which was once abundant with grass and trees was now only ash.

"Kakashi! I found him!" Yamato showed Kakashi the burnt and bloody body of Naruto. His jump suit was torn apart, and a majority of his skin was red and black.

"We should have gotten here sooner, I should have known Sasuke would have been too powerful for Naruto to handle on his own!" Yamato couldn't help but feel this way after only showing up to see the aftermath of the battle.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that." Kakashi said "There's no body over here, but there is a considerable amount of blood." he looked for footprints to see where Sasuke might have headed; instead he found none "Just as I thought."

"What is it?"

"There's no way Sasuke escaped on his own. From the amount of blood he lost, he shouldn't be alive, let alone moving."

Yamato held Naruto on his back "We should get back to the village before Naruto meets Sasuke's possible fate."

"I agree."

The two jounin made their way to the village.

'I'm sorry Naruto, this is the second time I failed to come to your aid when you needed me...'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX

Naruto awake in a hospital bed. His body was still numb and he could hardly see.

"Naruto-kun!"

The familiar voice was followed by a tender kiss. as his vision cleared, he saw the face of his pink haired lover. He saw her warm smile and her wet eyes.

"...Sakura...it's so good to see you." she passionately kissed him once more.

"Where's Hikaru?"

Sakura's smile slowly faded away "Hikaru's injuries were very serious...the nurses almost weren't able to restore the organs that had been torn. He still isn't able to breathe on his own yet..."

Naruto weakly held Sakura's hand "There's nothing you could have done to prevent that from happening, so you shouldn't blame yourself."

Sakura knew that it didn't matter who she blamed, she still almost lost two people who she cared for most all in one day, and that was more than what she could take.

Author's note: Please please please forgive me for being so damn late! I just had so much crap to take care of. But I hope this chapter made up for my being two days past due.

So many questions come from this ending, what will happen to Hikaru? Where did Sasuke go and is he still alive? And how will I incorporate Orochimaru into the story? You'll see in due time :)

~Happy Murder~


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Deep in the bowels of a dimly lit compound, two masked shinobi were waiting in their quarters. One of the shinobi was a hound woman with long black hair; her mask was similar to the mask of an ANBU with a sound village insignia on the forehead. The other was a young man with short white hair wearing the same mask. They were practicing their aim with their kunai knives.

"So, Kazuharu, what do you think of our new mission?" The girl asked. Her voice was very soft, and was very pleasant to listen to.

"I don't see the point. Why is Orochimaru-sama so interested in that Shibuya guy? He already has one of them." The boy's tone of voice was very arrogant and disrespectful.

The girl nodded "You're right, he does have a Shibuya, but a reanimated corpse is no test subject."

The boy threw another knife "If Uchiha had taken care of it like he was supposed to, we wouldn't have to do this shit. He was given a simple mission and he was almost killed by his old team.

"You should mind your tongue. After all, one of his opponents was the demon fox."

"Well, I just don't understand why he's being added to are team, or why he's leading us." The boy pulled his kunai out of the target.

"If it's Orochimaru-sama's will, then it must be done."

While the two ninja talked about their future team, Kabuto was finishing his operation on Sasuke. The battle had left Sasuke's body devastated. The first rasenshuriken had impaled his chest and scratched his heart; the second one would have torn Sasuke in half if Orochimaru's snake hadn't rescued him in time. Though Kabuto knew all this, he knew that Orochimaru would receive no thanks from the arrogant Uchiha.

Because of Kabuto's superior healing skills, Sasuke would be soon able to fight once more. He was now in the early recovering stage. His heart still needed to heal, and a few minor fractures needed to set. A man with piercing yellow eyes, pale skin, and long flowing black hair walked into Kabuto's operating room.

"How are you feeling, Sasuke-kun?" He asked.

Sasuke turned his head in the opposite direction "Leave. I don't feel like having to deal with you right now."

Kabuto gritted his teeth "You arrogant little bastard! If it wasn't for Orochimaru-sama, you'd be dead right now!"

The snake man laughed as he slowly licked his lips "It's quite alright Kabuto."

"But sir, you saved his life after he failed the mission you gave him months to prepare for, and he still has the nerve to talk to you like that, don't you find that disturbing?"

Orochimaru walked beside his loyal subordinate. Kabuto's undying loyalty was one of his greatest assets. Having someone that powerful ready to jump on command always assured his protection.

"Go easy on him. After all, we still did get the scrolls. And soon they will be ready to be activated."

"But what about the Shibuya boy?"

"I've already taken care of that."

The two masked ninja walked into the room.

"Sasuke, these two will be your new teammates."

"Please, I don't need a team; they'll just slow me down." He spat.

Kazuharu Clenched his fists "How dare you disrespect us like that! I don't care who you are, or what 'great' clan you're from, while you're in my presence you will show me respect!"

Sasuke stared into the audacious ninja's eyes. He used his hypnotic sharingan eyes at an attempt to frighten him. He focused all his chakura to his eyes, strengthening the sharingan, but the boy still stood unwavering.

"I'm afraid that won't work on me. I have developed complete immunity to genjutsu."

Orochimaru loved the disappointed look on Sasuke's face as he found that he was unable to strike fear into the heart of someone who would be serving under him "I think you should formally introduce yourselves."

The boy unmasked himself. He had light brown eyes, no facial hair, and a scar above his nose resembling Iruka's "My name is Motoru Kazuharu. I have many different chakura affinities. My immunity to genjutsu is what makes me one of Orochimaru's best fighters."

The girl then removed her mask. Sasuke was shocked to see her face. The girl was very beautiful. Her face was flawless with not so much as a scratch, her bangs were jet black with a streak of white down the left side, and her eyes were a bright orange.

With a warm smile, she bowed before him "My name is Shibuya Haruna, I believe you're already familiar with my clan's jutsu."

In the konoha hospital, Sakura stays by Naruto's bedside. She had offered to personally tend to him. Though the two enjoyed each other's company very much, something still weighed very heavily on Naruto's mind.

Sakura looked into his eyes which seemed so distant "What's wrong, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto was broken out of his trance "I was just thinking."

"Well that's a big change for you Naruto." Tsunade walked into the room.

"Good morning Tsunade-sama." Sakura bowed to her sensei.

She walked over to Naruto's bedside "So, how are you feeling Naruto? Your wounds seem to have healed very nicely."

"Well i have Sakura-chan to thank for that...Obaa-chan, how is Hikaru doing?" Naruto nearly fell out of his bed as he jumped up.

"Calm down, that's what I came in here for, Hikaru is awake."

"He is? May we please see him?" Sakura asked.

Tsunade nodded and lead them to their comrade "Now before you see him, you need to know that his condition is still critical. He's not yet able to breath on his own."

When she led to two into the room, their hearts sunk. Hikaru had tubes running down his throat delivering oxygen to his lungs. He had many bandages wrapped around his chest, and one of his arms was in a sling.

Naruto was the first to walk over to his bedside. He had a hard time looking at him without tearing up. "Hikaru...I'm so sorry." Hikaru's bright orange eyes looked into Naruto's.

"If I was able to defeat Sasuke sooner, you would never be in this condition... I'm sorry."

Hikaru gave him a weak smile. This smile said more than words ever could. Naruto could tell his teammate was trying to tell him that he never held anything against him.

"Okay Naruto, I think you should let Hikaru rest, if he's gonna recover soon he needs all his strength.

When Sakura and Naruto were back in the room, their masked sensei was waiting for them. He was sitting on Naruto's bed reading the brand new addition to the Make Out series with childlike enthusiasm in his eyes.

"Hey, Kakashi sensei, what's up?" Sakura asked.

He closed his book "Hello you two, how are you feeling?"

Naruto held up his bandaged hand and clenched his fist tightly "I'm feeling much better. Give me one more day and I'll be out and ready for another mission."

Sakura giggled "Yeah, I don't think that's gonna happen."

Kakashi stood up from the blonde ninja's bed "I think we should talk."

The two heard the calm urgency in his voice. Whenever Kakasi started a sentence like that, bad news always seemed to follow. As the two prepared for the worst, they waited for their sensei's next words.

"After Naruto and Sasuke's battle was over, Yamato and I thoroughly searched the area for any trace Sasuke's body. There was a large amount of blood where I assume he was standing, but no body."

He looked at Naruto's bandaged body. He still wasn't able to believe that he was able to survive such a powerful attack from Sasuke even with the help of the fox.

"We saw no other set of footprints, so we believe he was taken from the area by someone else."

"Kakashi sensei...are you saying..."

"Yes Naruto, Sasuke may still be alive."

Naruto looked at the grounds he couldn't believe after all he went through to ensure the death of Sasuke, he still survived. He had given every last bit of chakura he had, and taken every lightning bolt, but it still wasn't enough. Naruto felt as if he had failed the village, as well as his team.

Sakura held onto Naruto's arm as she lay her head on his shoulder "Naruto-kun, it's okay. There's nothing you could have done to avoid that."

"However, I don't think Sasuke was going his hardest on you. Based on your report, he never used anything besides his lightning and fire ninjutsu."

"But Kakashi sensei, how was that easy? He nearly tore Naruto-kun and Hikaru-chan apart."

He shook his head "That was a lot, but if he had used his mangekyō sharingan, the outcome would have been much different."

Naruto, and Sakura's sense of comfort disappeared with these words. Though they had suffered extreme damage, they took some pride in their ability to overpower Sasuke. Even Kakashi wasn't able to withstand the mangekyō. Naruro began to doubt that he would stand a chance against Sasuke again.

"Sensei, is there any way to defeat it?"

"There might be, but I'm not sure you will survive it."

"I don't care." He said "I'll do it."

Sakura wanted to protest. She feared for his life, but she saw the look of burning desire in his eyes. With the will of fire engulfing the whites of his eyes, she knew that anything she said would be wasted on her blonde knuckleheaded boyfriend.

"This may be just a theory, but I believe if you use the chakura of the nine tails, you may be able to combat the mangekyō sharingan."

Naruto didn't want to have to rely on the power of the demon fox. He thought it would be too dangerous to use after his battle with Nagato. The good and ill seemed to be weaving into one design as Naruto thought more about his sensei's offer. He wanted to kill Sasuke, but not at the expense of his life of his life or the lives of his teammates.

A light breeze blew through the window and filled the room. As if the wind carried Naruto's exact thoughts, Kakashi was able to read his fear "I know you're worried, but I do have a plan that will help you control the fox, while using the power of its cloak."

After a long two weeks of standardized treatment, Naruto was finally healthy enough to leave the hospital. The minute his foot hit the ground, he ran to the training ground where Kakashi would be waiting for him. With every step, the young ninja grew more anxious. He wondered if he would be able to actually control the fox inside of him, or if he would lose control like he did so many times in the past.

As he saw the grassy field with the dew drops glistening in the morning sun, he cast away all doubts or fears. He knew unnecessary thoughts would cloud his judgment, and eventually lead to death.

Naruto made his way down to the three wooden posts where he had been trained since the first day he met Kakashi.

"I figured this place would be the most appropriate to train."

Naruto looked behind him and saw his white haired sensei.

"Teaching you how to end everything where it all started."

Naruto smiled "Let's get started, Kakashi sensei." He fastened his headband tightly, and prepared for the worst, but not in fear, in anticipation to bend the situation to his liking.

"First, you need to learn something about Sasuke's mangekyō sharengan. His right mangekyō has the tsukuyomi."

Naruto's eyes widened "Wait, isn't that the jutsu that paralyzed you?"

Kakasi nodded "The very one. But what made Itachi's so powerful was the effect that it distorted one's perception of time, making seven minutes feel like three days. Sasuke doesn't have the time distortion ability, so his ability to control the tsukuyomi for long periods of time is limited."

"So what you're saying is, even if I get caught in that crazy genjutsu, I won't be affected for long?" Naruto's confident grin spread appeared across his face once again.

"However, with his left eye, he can use a fire style jutsu to create the most powerful flame, Amaterasu. His amaterasu is more powerful than Itachi's."

"So how do I defend against it?" He asked not losing his confidence.

"You don't." These cold words robbed the smile from Naruto's face, and replaced happiness and confidence with fear and uncertainty.

"The only thing that may be able to help is the chakura of the Kyuubi. The first time you fought Orochimaru, the Kyuubi shot a stream of concentrated chakura. The power of that blast at four tales created a crater deep in the ground."

"Yeah, but I wasn't able to control myself."

Kakashi nodded "That's what we're here to fix. I want you to activate the fox's chakura, but while in sage mode."

Nothing more was said, and Naruto focused his chakura.

'If this works, then he might just be able surpass even Orochimaru, but if it fails and the fox takes over completely...' Kakashi thought of every possible outcome of this training exercise. Each negative outsold resulted in his death. He wasn't even sure if Yamato could tame him like he did in the past.

Naruto's chakura levels spiked. His pupils changed from their regular circular shape, to a toad like rectangular shape. The pigment around his eyes darkened into a light orange.

"Good, now slowly release the Kyuubi's chakura." As he let the demon's chakura engulf his body, the bowing grass that surrounded him began to wither and die. Naruto's eyes became red with the demon's madness. One by one, the tails formed from the back of the red chakura silhouette. When the third tail formed, Kakashi waited apprehensively.

The ckakura under the third tail bubbled and churned. Naruto felt the chakura becoming thicker, almost as if his body was filled to capacity. He shut his eyes.

The fourth tail sluggishly formed, and his power rose immensely. Though his fourth tail had taken form, Naruto remained in control of his mind and body.

"Good Naruto, now out training can begin."

Inside the konoha hospital, Hikaru's health had improved greatly over the spam of two weeks. His internal organs had completely healed, and he was finally able to breath on his own.

He was enjoying every last breath he took. As he looked out of the window at all the men, women, and children enjoying the beautiful cloudless day, he wished he could be there with them. There was nothing worse in his mind than being laid up in hospital bed with nothing but his thoughts to keep him company.

As if his prayers were answered, he heard a knock on his door. His pink haired teammate walked in with a bouquet of flowers in her arm.

"Good afternoon Sakura-chan."

His greeting threw her off guard. She had never heard him greet her so politely before. She was very used to him saying "Holy crap, you're still alive?" or "Hey tiny tits" but this was a much more pleasant change.

"How are you feeling Hikaru-chan? Any better?"

He nodded "yeah, much better. When I had those tubes shoved down my throat it felt horrible. It was so much going down at one time, and I felt like I was going to gag, but couldn't. I'm guessing you've experienced something similar many times."

Sakura balled her fist as she glared murderously at Hikaru. As he prepared to be struck by her monstrous strength, she laughed "It's good to have you back Hikaru-chan."

Hikaru felt a wave of relief wash over him. He had been waiting to make that joke for the longest time, and he made it without being beaten.

"Where's Naruto-kun?" he asked.

"He went out training with Kakashi this morning, so I think he's still with him."

He felt incredibly weak. While he was stuck I'm the hospital, Naruto was getting stronger. He put his hand over his lower stomach, the same place where Sasuke had run him through "What happened with Sasuke? Did we get the scrolls back?"

Sakura shook her head "Naruto wasn't able to get them back after he confronted Sasuke by himself. The worst part is, we think Sasuke is still alive."

Hikaru beat his fist into his knee "This is all my fault...if I hadn't been so reckless, I could have helped him."

Sakura held his cold trembling hand "Nothing more could have been done even if we were all there..."

"But we would have all been there if I hadn't acted like a fucking idiot and charged in without thinking!" Hikaru shook her hand off of his "I'm the one who fuck up, I'm the one who let Naruto-kun get hurt, I'm the one to blame."

Sakura had never seen her happy-go-lucky friend this depressed. She had no idea what to say to cheer him up or how to convince him that the fault was not his own.

"Get dressed." She said

"What for?"

"We're going out to get some fresh air." She smiled.

"I really don't want to Sakura-chan..."

"Come on. This is the first time in almost a month that you've been able to breath on your own, let's enjoy that together."

He sighed and slowly stepped out of his bed "Fine, I'll go."

The two talked out onto the brick road of the village. They headed for the training grounds to hopefully meet up with Naruto. Though Hikaru was somewhat happy to see his teammate once more, he still couldn't shake the feeling that all the trouble could have been avoided if he hadn't carelessly thrown caution to the wind and charged at Sasuke.

The sun had begun to set when the two had finally reached the grounds. They found Naruto sprawled out on the ground next to piles of uplifted earth.

Hikaru and Sakura ran to see what had happened to the blonde ninja. Once they reached him, they found their sensei in a deep carter opposite Naruto, trying to catch his breath.

"Kakashi sensei! What the hell happened!" Sakura asked as she helped Naruto to his feet.

He took a few more gasps of air before he was able to respond "We...were trying to...increase his power by using the Kyuubi's chakura..."

"Are you crazy? Do you remember what happened the last time Naruto-kun used its chakura? It almost killed him!"

Naruto stood on his own "It's okay Sakura-chan...I'm fine." he panted.

"But Naruto..." He brought her close, and kissed her. She closed, and let herself be taken by the euphoric pleasure brought on by Naruto. When he broke away, he wore the same reassuring smile that she always wore for him. He was able to put her worries to rest, as she had done for him so many times in the past.

Hikaru loudly cleared his throat "If you two are done, I thought we were gonna celebrate my good health or some crap like that." Sakura and Naruto blushed.

"Sorry about that... It's good to see you're feeling better Hikaru-chan." Naruto said.

Sasuke and his new team ran through the forest, under the cover of the leaves. Their mission was to enter the village, retrieve Hikaru, and kill anyone who resisted them.

"Hey Uchiha, think you'll be able take on that demon fox kid, or get your ass kicked like last time."

Sasuke had to desperately control the urge to kill Kazuharu, but every time the masked ninja spoke, it became harder "All we need to do is take Hikaru by any means necessary."

"Remember what you promised what you promised me Uchiha, I get to see him first. There's no reason why we can't give him the choice of coming peacefully."

Kazuharu rolled his eyes "If worse comes to worse, I hope you're ready to heat the crap out of your brother. You died protecting him last time, what makes you think you can hurt him now?"

Haruna lifted her mask, and showed Kazukaru the determined look plastered onto her face "I may be his sister, but I now belong Orochimaru-sama."

She lowered her mask, and no more was said by the three ninja.

As they neared the gate of the village, Sasuke stopped.

"You two, remove your masks. With the sound village insignia, they're a dead give away."

"Don't fucking order me around." Kazuharu spat.

He and Haruna removed their masks, and cast them to the forest floor.

"Kazuharu and I will wait here while you go in Haruna."

"Right." With those last words, she ran into the village to find her brother who she hadn't seen for seven years. She honestly hoped she could take him without a fight. Though when Orochimaru resurrected her he made her his slave, she still had some sisterly love left for her little brother. The little brother she sheltered from all danger, and the little brother she died for.

Author's note: I am SOOO sorry for not updating. I've just been dealing with some regular 16 year old boy bullshit (girls, finding a job, girls, buying, parents, and girls). So we see that Haruna Shibuya is one of Orochimaru's servants...how will Hikaru react to seeing his sister? Will he be able to return her to death, or will he surrender and help commence whatever evil plot Orochimaru has planned. All will be reviled in the next chapter of the will to live.

Ps. Sorry about yet another filler chapter, but as I said in the past, when I write these types of chapters, they are followed by an exciting chapter with lots of action and...other words for action. Also, to the person who asked, why would I kill off Sasuke? He's the main antagonist. I would never do that to you guys :)

~Happy Murder~


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Hikaru walked on the path that led to his house. The events of the "party" with Naruto and Sakura ran through his head. All they did was go to the sweets shop and gorge themselves on dumplings and tea.

Hikaru was glad he could eat again. Being fed through a tube wasn't exactly his idea of enjoying a meal.

He began to walk pass the old Shibuya compound. When he looked at it, he noticed something odd. No one had lived in the Shibuya compound for seven years, yet the lanterns and house lights were lit.

Hikaru slowly approached the house to see who was inside. He didn't want anyone tampering with his family's grave site. As he entered the main room compound, memories of his early childhood raced through his mind. Memories of how his brother Yuji would always beat him and how Haruna would slap him for that. He didn't have many memories of his mother and father; they were constantly put on missions so Haruna basically raised him. As his mind's eye focused on the face of his sister, he heard footsteps.

Hikaru drew a kunai as he heard the person getting closer. When he saw the intruder's foot step into the main room, he threw his knife.

He only intended to hit the wall in front of the intruder, but it was caught.

Hikaru watched as the intruder holding his knife fully entered the room. He kept his guard up and focused his chakura for the fight he expected would happen. As he got a better look at the person who entered the room, he lost all focus.

"We haven't seen each other in seven years, and this is how you greet me, Hikaru?" Haruna said while dropping the knife.

Hikaru was in complete shock. He knew Haruna was dead, he saw her die with his own eyes, but she stood in front of him. Her warm smile and loving that always used to ease and comfort Hikaru, only filled him with chilling uneasiness.

Haruna walked closer to him. No matter how hard he tried, Hikaru wasn't able to move.

Haruna took Hikaru by the waist, and pulled him into her arms.

"You've grown so much, Hikaru. You don't look anything like that little boy I used to protect."

Everything about her was the same from her looks, to her sweet scent.

Hikaru tried to speak, but no words escaped his mouth.

"Are you okay?" She asked "You're shaking."

Hikaru pushed her off. He tried to calm himself and regain control. Every time he felt strength enter his body, when he looked at Haruna's hypnotic smile, it immediately left.

"How...how are you..."

"Alive?" She giggled when she saw how frightened Hikaru was. She always remembered him wanting to be close to her, but she understood his surprise.

"I was reanimated."

Hikaru stepped back "But...that jutsu's forbidden...who did it?"

"Orochimaru-sama, he did this for me."

Hikaru knew he should have guessed that only Orochimaru would do something so despicable as to defile the dead.

"Isn't this great?" She smiled "Ever since I was brought back, all I wanted to do was see you."

As she walked closer to him, Hikaru pushed her back.

"But...Hikaru..."

"Stay back."

Haruna closed her eyes and shook her head "I came here to ask you to join us. Orochimaru is making an elite ninja army, he wants you to join."

Hikaru was silent.

"If you join, you'll be alongside other ninja who have been chosen to rule over the villages after we begin our attack. Doesn't that sound great..."

Hikaru punched in front of his sister's face.

Haruna smirked "I can't believe you'd try to hit your beloved Onee-chan."

"Shut up!" he yelled "My Onee-chan is dead. And I know she would never ask me to join Orochimaru's evil army."

She sighed "I was hoping you would just peacefully come. I really didn't want you to be hurt again...but if you do change your mind, I'll be in the forest just outside of the village gates."

With those last words, she formed the tiger hand seal, and disappeared in a flurry of leaves.

From what she said, Hikaru knew something big was about to happen, he only wished he knew exactly what.

Haruna reappeared next to her teammates in the forest outside the village. Kazuharu was asleep on a branch, and Sasuke was sharpening his weapons.

"How did it go?" He asked.

The Shibuya girl shook her head "He rejected the offer."

The disappointment in her tone was clearly heard. She knew this meant that they would need to take him to the sound village compound by force.

Sasuke laughed "Just like him to rejecting an offer as amazing as that."

Haruna felt a sinking feeling in her chest. This feeling couldn't be called pain, but it hurt no less.

Sasuke saw the disheartened look on Haruna's face "Are you sure you have the will to hurt your brother? I mean, you did shelter him his entire life."

Haruna straightened her posture, and wiped the tears forming in the corners of her eyes "Yes. I belong to Orochimaru-sama...if it's his will to have him...I'll bring him no matter what..."

Sasuke heard the shakiness of her voice. She was in no way prepared to do any hard to Hikaru.

'If she jeopardizes the mission, I'll have to kill her.'

"Rest." Sasuke said "Tomorrow night we move in."

Sasuke slumped down on the tree branch where he stood, and closed his eyes.

Haruna looked at the gate of the village that used to be her home. Though she knew she could never go back to the way things were, she dreamt of it fondly.

Kazuharu put a hand on her shoulder to break her from her trance "Haruna-chan." Their eyes locked as they met.

"What's wrong? I've never seen you look this broken before."

Haruna removed his hand "No...I'll be fine." She tried to smile, but the harder she tried; more tears filled her orange eyes.

"Haruna-chan, you know I'm always here to help you with anything you need, you know you can tell me."

She tried to remain strong and fight back her tears, but the kind words of her partner took her strength away. She embraced him and buried her face in his shoulder "...I don't know if I can do this...I protected Hikaru all his life...I can't hurt him..."

Kazuharu held her in his arms as she expressed her grief. Kazuharu and Haruna's bond was extremely strong. They had been partners since the day Kazuharu was made one of Orochimaru's elite soldiers. He and Haruna had protected each other and fought through hopeless missions countless times. He had complete faith and trust in her, and would do anything for her.

"What should I do Kazuharu-kun?"

He wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes "You don't have to lay a hand on him. I'll use my genjutsu to put him to sleep. That way we can take him without a fight."

Haruna kept her arms around Kazuharu. His idea put her troubled mind to rest.

Hikaru lay in his bed with his hands behind his head. He thought about the reunion with his deceased sister, and how he had threatened to return her to death.

'...Would I have really killed her...' he asked himself. As he thought about if he could bring himself to sleigh the person who had cared for him all his childhood, he began to wonder if possessed the power to.

"...I forgot...she's the one who taught me how to fight in the first place."

*Flashback 7 Years in the past*

Hikaru and Haruna were in the forest of the village. Hikaru was crying into Haruna's shoulder as she held him in her arms trying to comfort him.

"It's okay Hikaru." She rubbed his back "The clone jutsu is hard to learn at first, that's all."

Haruna pulled him from her shoulder "All it takes is a few tries to learn it."

Hikaru wiped his eyes and tried to control the urge to cry. Haruna's smile helped ease him. The sun shown on her face through the tree leaves. Hikaru always thought that Haruna had the face of a goddess.

"O...okay On...Onee-chan..." Hikaru wiped his damp eyelids, and readied his chakura for one more attempt.

He could feel the chakura in his body circulate as preformed each hand sign. After he released his last hand sign, he closed his eyes and waited for the result.

When he felt the intensity of his chakura lower he opened his eyes to see his clones. Nothing stood beside him except a ragged, pale dummy-like clone.

"Wow, you're really pathetic."

Hikaru looked behind him to see who had insulted him.

As he expected, he saw Yuji leaning his back on a tree and watching.

Haruna viciously glared at her older brother "Go away, Yuji!"

Yuji just donned his usual cocky grin and proceeded toward the two ninjas "You know Hikaru, Haruna was able to do that jutsu when she was six. It's sort of sad that you can't do a simple jutsu like this one."

Hikaru felt himself on the verge of tears once more. As he hung his head, Haruna put her hand on his shoulder, and knelt beside him.

"I can teach you another jutsu. It's called the shadow clone shuriken jutsu."

Hikaru looked into his sister's eyes. Haruna had tried to teach him this jutsu before, but he was never able to clone the shuriken.

"...But...What if I can't do it?"

"You probably won't be able to." Yuji said.

Haruna tried to fight the urge to beat Yuji, but with every word he spoke the temptation grew "Believe in yourself Hikaru." She held his hands which had many little cuts scattered around his palms and fingers. He wished that he had the confidence in himself that she had in him.

He swallowed all feelings doubt, and pulled out a shuriken from his pouch.

"You can even use Yuji as a target." She slyly smiled.

Yuji just laughed "He won't pull off the jutsu. I bet he won't even be able to hit me."

Hikaru threw the shuriken in the direction of his brother. Yuji stood firm as the approaching weeping held its course. Hikaru performed each hand sign that Haruna had taught him, and prayed that they would work.

After all hand signs were executed, he looked with disappointment at the failed result.

The shuriken was half way to Yuji, and he wouldn't even look in the direction of it. He just closed his yes and laughed at the result of Hikaru's jutsu "I told you you'd fail."

As he opened his eyes from his fit of laughter, he saw not one, but twenty shuriken about to make contact with his flesh.

He dogged at the last moment narrowly escaping death.

All Yuji could hear as he brought himself up from the forest floor was the hysterical laughter of his sister and little brother.

"Great job, Hikaru!" Haruna cheered and she embraced the younger brother.

Hikaru looked at the twenty shuriken scattered on the ground and felt a strong sense of pride at the success of his jutsu.

"You little bastard!" Yuji spat as he brushed the dirt off of the legs of his pants.

"What was that about his jutsu not working, Yuji?" Haruna winked.

Yuji gritted his teeth and darted for his little brother. Hikaru was paralyzed with fear. He knew that his brother was more powerful than he and his sister combine. As his fist was about to make contact with his face, Haruna drove her elbow into his forehead.

Yuji fell unconscious in front of his younger siblings "Come on Hikaru. Let's leave before he wakes up." Haruna giggled.

Hand in hand, they walked out of the forest.

*End Flashback*

Hikaru wiped his face with the palm of his hand. The memories of the love he had for his sister came into his head the moment when he was plotting to kill her. Retrospect was one thing he hated the most.

Two siblings torn apart by death were brought back by war. Each care deeply for each other, yet a stroke o cruel fate cast them on opposing sides. Hikaru knew in his mind that the only way to avoid betrayal or death would be to kill his sister, but his heart lacked the resolve.

Sakura and Naruto waited on the bridge for their teammate. His absence was very rare because he would be the first at the bridge, as well as the first to walk in on both of them, clothed or not.

Naruto looked down the road, hoping that their sat and pepper haired friend would come and greet them with his trademark evil grin. As the seconds passed, it felt as if time stood still.

Sakura giggled as she saw the worried expression on her boyfriend's face "Calm down Naruto-kun, I'm sure he's fine."

Naruto blushed "...I guess...But what if he's hurt? He only got out of the hospital yesterday?"

"I'm sure he's..."

"What if he's bleeding internally again!"

"Naruto-kun..."

"What if he..."

Sakura silenced the worried ninja with her kiss. As her tongue moved into Naruto's mouth, his worries exited his mind.

Their lips parted and Naruto looked into Sakura's emerald green eyes "Calm down, I'm sure he's fine."

Naruto was still very taken by her kiss "If you want, we can go check on him."

Naruto embraced Sakura by the waist, catching her off guard, and placed his lips on hers once more.

He pulled away and looked at the adorable dazed expression on her face.

His usual goofy grin spread across his face "Sorry, I just had to have one more."

The couple walked to the front door of Hikaru's house. As they went to knock on his door, the noticed that it wasn't fully closed. Naruto began to worry that someone had broken into his house while he was sleeping.

He reached for the doorknob slowly as he felt the beat of his heart pulsating in his neck. Once his hand reached the cool metal of the knob, the door was pulled open from the inside.

Out walked Hikaru, adorned with his sword, two large shuriken, and two scrolls on his back. There was no life in his eyes, they were as cold as death. He looked as if he had been broken beyond repair.

His fully armed exterior made Naruto and Sakura feel uneasy "...Hikaru-chan...What's with all the gear?" Sakura awkwardly asked.

Hikaru didn't answer the pink haired girl, he just lifelessly stared off into space.

"Hey..." Naruto Shakily laughed "...I thought you thought only pussies used scrolls."

Hikaru walked out of his house and passed his team mates "Hikaru-chan..." Naruto called out.

He stopped, not bothering to face his comrades "These two scrolls are seals. One seals the chakura of a ninja, the other seals the life. After both are sealed, the scrolls destroy all traces, making reanimation of the corpse impossible."

His two teammates were confused about why he would need such a powerful tool.

"It works perfectly against any ninja no matter their skill or power level, the only catch is, it requires the life of the one who activates it."

Hikaru began to walk off, leaving behind his shocked teammates. Naruto and Sakura ran to stop him. They knew something was seriously wrong, but they couldn't imagine what could possibly make him need to take his own life. Naruto grabbed Hikaru's shoulder before he had a chance to get any farther.

He looked straight into Hikaru's dead eyes "Hikaru-chan, what the hell is wrong with you? Who are you trying to kill?"

Hikaru brushed Naruto's hand off his shoulder "It's not your fight Naruto-kun, you don't need to worry."

Before Hikaru could continue on his path to his assured destruction, Sakura stepped in front of him.

"We're your teammates! Your fight is always gonna be our fight!"

He couldn't look into either of their eyes. Sakura and Naruto were like family to him, whack was why he couldn't live with himself if he put them in harm's way.

"There are things that I need to do alone...it's only right that way..."

"The whole point of having a team is to have back up in the face of danger." Naruto said "No matter what you need to do, no matter who you need to kill, we will be there with you."

The caring words of his team almost brought him to tears. He knew it didn't matter what he said, even if he was about to plunge into the depths of hell, his team would follow in an attempt to subdue the flames.

As he looked to their smiling faces, the confidence that radiated was as refreshing a ray of sun through an overcast sky.

Hikaru smiled and shook his head "You two, you're really idiots...but I love you both."

Naruto and Sakura both knew that backwards complement was the bet they would get out o Hikaru, so they just took it and called it a win.

The group began walking the direction Hikaru had been heading "So...who are you trying to kill?" Sakura apprehensively asked.

"Apparently, a squad of ninja is here to kidnap me."

His answer only left his teammates with more questions.

"Orochimaru is trying to build an army of elite Ninja, and my kekei genkai is something he needs."

Hikaru turned his heads to see his teammates in full view "The Ninja they sent to do it are pretty strong. Jonin level or higher."

Naruto gritted his teeth "Sasuke."

Hikaru nodded "It's very possible he's been sent as well."

The blonde ninja was both excited and nervous. He had was finally going to be given another chance to rid the world of Sasuke's existence.

When they reached the gate of the village, they began to extinguish any feelings of doubt or fear. They knew every step they took brought them closer to the possible end of their lives, but as ling as they had each other by their sides, they didn't care what fate was for them.

Sakura looked to Hikaru, and then Naruto. They both wore the determined confident smile that was all too familiar to her. This was the smile Naruto wore whenever he would vow never to give up or go against his word, and the smile she always loved.

The group walked into the wilderness. Every sound made them anxious. Every animal watching them, or every sound they hears could be their enemy.

In the trees, the three ninja watched as the leaf shinobi squad searched for them.

Kazuharu kept a careful eye on their target as he moved with his teammates "Haruna, do it."

Haruna pressed her palms together and focused her chakura "Water style: water shockwave jutsu!"

As the giant wave of water crashed upon the group below, Sasuke's team sprang into action.

Shell-shocked, Naruto and his teammates picked themselves up from the pool of water. The water was particularly deep, and they realized it would make movement difficult. When they stood on top of the water, the three stressing shinobi stood before them.

Naruto's mind was solely focused on one shinobi in particular. As his blood lust increased, he pictured himself standing victorious over the beaten corpse of his old comrade and rival.

Haruna tried her best not to make eye contact with her younger brother. She felt that she was betraying him by forcing him to commit to something he had no interest in doing. She was torn between her loyalty to her master, and her devotion to Hikaru.

"Let's get this over with." Sasuke emotionlessly said.

Each ninja knew who their opponent would be. The two team's chakura levels increased greatly as they prepared for the battle to the death.

Sasuke looked into the eyes of his teammates. Each wore the same expression. They seemed to reach an understanding about something, but what it was Naruto's team couldn't figure out.

Suddenly Sasuke's the team disbursed.

Before Naruto's team had time to react, each member of the opposing team had grabbed them from behind.

Naruto immediately shook his captor from his back.

As he turned around he stared into the pricing red eyes of his attacker.

The hatred in Naruto's expression brought a sarcastic smile to the Uchiha's face "Haruna, Kazuharu, take the others somewhere far away. I don't wanna accidentally kill you."

Haruna and Kazuharu begrudgingly followed their leader's orders. They both knew the destructive power their leader possessed, and had no intention of getting caught in the crossfire. The two disappeared with Naruto's teammates in a cloud of smoke.

Sasuke and Naruto were deadlocked in a battle to the death. Both ninja knew what defeat meant, which only fueled their drive to win much more.

"Well Naruto, looks like we'll finally see who the better ninja is." Sasuke smirked.

Naruto didn't respond to him. He felt no need to resort to taunting.

"Not speaking?" he laughed "Just think, in a few minutes I'll be standing over the remains of the 'future Hokage'"

Sasuke closed his eyes as he continued his mocking laughter.

As soon as he opened his eyes, Naruto's fist was only inches away from his face while red chakura was released from his body.

Sasuke felt a wet substance flow down from his forehead and nose. He slowly wiped the bottom of his nose to see what was happening. He was beyond unprepared for what he saw when he brought his fingers to his sight. They were soaked in blood, and he felt mote coming out.

'...H...how the hell did he do that? ...I don't even remember him hitting me... '

He looked to Naruto once more. Though he saw the angry expression only seconds before, this time it made his arms and legs tremble.

"I'm not gonna be the one to die her today, Sasuke. Believe that."

His confidence only made Sasuke harbor more hatred for the blonde ninja.

"Don't get cocky, the fight only just started."

Sasuke blew a fireball at the water under them. A large cloud of steam rose, covering everything in sight. Naruto had no way of seeing anything, but he knew Sasuke could see him.

Sasuke came from behind Naruto and struck the back of his head with fist.

The moment that Naruto turned to see the Uchiha, he was gone. He then felt the blade of a knife slice his cheek. Naruto again looked to see where Sasuke was, but every time he turned, Sasuke came from a different direction with a stronger attack. The battle had only just started, and Naruto's jumpsuit was already soaked in his blood. What made matters worse was not the face that Sasuke had the upper hand in the fight, it was that he knew he was just toying with him.

Haruna was keeping Sakura occupied while Kazuharu tried to capture Hikaru though she hadn't counted on the fact that she would be so powerful. She began to doubt her ability to be the victor in this fight.

Narrowly escaping Sakura's monstrous punch, Haruna took cover behind a tree. She threw a refreshing splash of cool water on her face washing away the droplets of sweat that dripped from her brow as she tried to prepare a battle strategy 'She's too strong...a close range fight will only result in my death...but I only have a few long range attacks.'

Just as Haruna began to give up hope 'I know what I need to do.'

She felt the trunk of the tree shake as she saw the fist of her opponent burst through. "Come out you bitch!"

Haruna dove under the water before Sakura was able to strike her. Sakura knew that if she had followed her opponent under the water there would be no way to fight against her. A water type ninja surrounded by water was a serious problem to deal with.

Haruna saw Sakura standing on the water waiting for her to come out. She combined the water with her own chakura and began to increase the amount of circulation.

Sakura noticed the water was becoming less clear. The water that was under her looked like a flurry of bubbles. She noticed a pair of glowing yellow eyes coming closer by the second. As she realized the situation, she jumped back. Only moments after she moved, Haruna's water dragon came up from the water.

She began to catch her breath as she stared in awe 'That thing could have torn me apart...I've gotta be more caref...'

Before she could even finish her thought, she jumped as Haruna grabbed her ankles. Her Sakura focus was lost for only a second, but she still partially sank. She refocused when the water was up to her knees.

Haruna kept a tight hold on Sakura. Sakura tried to get back to the top of the water, but suddenly found herself immobilized. She then saw the entire body of water around them start to freeze.

Haruna brought her body out of the ice, and stood before Sakura. Unlike most, when she looked at her shivering opponent placed in her trap, Haruna was not content with her victory. She wanted to cause no harm to the girl whatsoever.

Haruna's thoughts were brought back to the battle when she felt the ice break under her feet. As she fell back, she saw that Sakura had used her monstrous strength to partially free herself

"I'm not done yet!" She cried out.

Haruna began to worry. There seemed to be nothing that could hold her.

Sakura then kicked the ice that bound her legs together.

Haruna hung her head in remorse as she watched the girl crawled to the surface of the water.

"I'm truly sorry." she said as she stood in front of the homicidal pink haired girl "But this needs to be done."

Sakura's anger plugged her ears to Haruna's words.

When she was about to bring her foot out, the saw an orb of water encase her. The weight of the water inside the ball rendered her motionless, and the lack of air only meant every second that passed, was one second closer to her demise.

Kazuharu was trying his hardest not to seriously injure Hikaru for Haruna's sake, but in doing that he wasn't able to use most of his ninjutsu.

Hikaru kept switching from one kekei genkai to another, each being more powerful than the last. With every bone that pierced out of Hikaru's skin, and every wave of electricity he shot through his palms, Kazuharu saw there would be almost no hope in winning.

Kazuharu dogged swipe after swipe from the Shibuya boy 'At this rate, I'll die before I even have a chance to hit him'

Hikaru came within arms length of the ninja, and used his sharpened bones to tear open his flesh.

His bloody body fell into the water. The pain almost made him lose consciousness. He knew that there was no escaping causing serious damage to Hikaru.

Kazuharu clapped his hands together and separated his mind from all that was around him. The pressure of the water began to feel lighter, and his chakura concentration became denser.

'Wind release: Reppūshō!'

A large gust of wind roiled the water beneath Hikaru. The bullet of air caught Hikaru in an explosion of water. While he was caught off guard, Kazuharu snuck behind him and unsheathed Hikaru's sword.

Before Hikaru had a chance to regain his composure, his opponent had made the first move and impaled him with the very blade that had saved his life so many other times in the past.

Hikaru watched as every drop of blood fell from the tip of the blade and dissolve into the water.

"Sorry about that." Kazuharu smirked as he wiped the scar on his nose "I promised Haruna I wouldn't hurt you, but..."

Hikaru grabbed the sharp blade that stuck through his chest, pulled it through father and brought Kazuharu with it. Not caring about the damage he was causing to his recently healed internal organs, he turned his torso forcing the blade to cut wider into chest. Blood in his mouth, and furry in his eyes he focused chakura into his fist and released it once he made comrade with Kazuharu's nose.

Kazuharu did his best to maintain his composure not to fall into the water, but his legs began to slightly sink. The flood of blood pouring from his nose assured him that it was broken. When he looked back to Hikaru, he saw the blade of the sword coming to slice him. With no other option, Kazuharu focused chakura to his palm, and caught the blade.

The chakura acted as a fourth layer of skin, but his palm was still deeply sliced.

"Don't worry." Hikaru grunted as he spat the blood from his mouth onto the face of Kazuharu "The pain you caused me wont be anything compared to what I'm about to do to you."

Though he was badly beaten, bleeding, and scarred, Naruto was finally able to inflict damage on Sasuke. The water around Naruto slowly turned to steam with every step he took. The intensity of the demon fox's chakura was overbearing even for the elements themselves.

They exchanged blow after blow, and cut for cut.

Blood trickled from Naruto's shoulder to the tips of his fingers from damage inflicted by Sasuke's sword.

Both of Sasuke's hands were deeply scratched. The moment his blade made contact with Naruto's shoulder, he countered using the demon's claws.

The two knew that neither of them could last much longer in this fight, and needed to end it as quickly as they possibly could.

Naruto, on all fours, ran at breakneck speed to once again paint his claws and fangs with the blood of the Uchiha.

Even with the sharingan, Naruto's movements were too quick to clearly see.

There was only an inch berth between Sasuke and Naruto. The blonde ninja extended his claw to tear his opponent's leg.

Sasuke picked his leg up, only suffering a glancing blow from Naruto. He stomped the back of his head, and sent him plunging into the water.

Without letting one second go to waste, Sasuke focused a large burst of lightning into his palm, and trusted it into the water beneath him.

Naruto could smell the blood in the water from Sasuke's fresh and gaping wound. He began to swim upward to claim his prize. His mind was completely overtaken by the demon's instincts; all that remained of Naruto was the body that served as its vessel.

Naruto was almost to the surface, he could clearly see all that stood above. When he reached out to grab Sasuke, he felt an intense shockwave of electricity pass through his body. Sasuke's palm was not in close enough range to touch Naruto, but the water that surrounded him carried the current and amplified it.

Naruto used his last breath to cry out in agonizing pain as the electrical waves made every muscle in his body violently spasm. When the air left his lungs, water quickly replaced it. Everything in Naruto's vision was beginning to turn black.

The demon fox clawed at the gate of his cage, desperately trying to escape.

'I refuse to die!' he clawed once more at the thick steel bars 'I refuse!'

As Naruto tried to scream again, all that escaped his mouth was a thick cloud of his own blood.

To be continued

Author's note: Well I'm so friggin sorry that it took me so long to update but it's finally here :D

We see both teams going H.A.M. on each other...but I'm not sure who's gonna win, are u? :3

Spoiler alert #1 This story might not have a happy ending

Spoiler alert #2 This story might have a happy ending

No but deadass I really haven't decided yet

Secondary Note: About the whole suffix thingy, I use chan for Hikaru cuz it's showing the way his team playfully disrespects Hikaru. As we learned in previous chapters, he wants to be called Hikaru-sama, but instead of even calling him Hikaru-kun, they call him Hikaru-chan (implying that his behavior is childlike *so basically by calling him Hikaru-chan they're saying his behavior is like that of a child*)

~Happy Murder~


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Important Notice: Just needed to say, one event will happen in every "XXXXX" moment because all of this is happening at the same time but they all connect at the end. So yeah :) final chapter y'all! Let's do this!

And two important

**WARNINGS**: 1) last chapter was the climax so this is the falling action, so it won't be action packed

2) there is some...how should I put this...strongly suggested 'things' in this chapter. Let's just say I've been reading Aki Sora and leave it at that -_-

Sasuke looked contemptuously at the water blackened by his enemy's blood. He had finally done what he had failed to do in the past. He had finally killed Uzumaki Naruto. The Uchiha hysterically laughed as the memories of Naruto continuously talking about his aspirations played through him mind. He knew the very idea of Naruto actually becoming Hokage was a wild dream at the most, now he stopped him from even having a fighting chance.

"I guess we now know who's the better ninja, Uzumaki Naruto." He began to walk towards his comrades. He assumed they had already finished off his ex teammates. Without even assessing their abilities in combat, he knew they were much stronger than Sakura and Hikaru were.

He watched as the water rippled under his feet. There was always something mesmerizing about the ripple effect to him. The ripples grew larger with each footstep he took. They began stretching over a diameter of thirty feet just on contact.

He paused 'Wait, with my height and weight there is no possible way the ripples would stretch that far...'

The source of the disturbance couldn't have come from anywhere farther from his location because the ripples centered around him. The only place it could come from was beneath him...

He apprehensively looked at the water below him. He saw an orange glow, bigger and a darker shade than the cloak that surrounded Naruto in their battle. But it couldn't be Naruto; no one could survive ten thousand volts of electricity while their body is completely immersed in a pool of water.

The orange cloud grew larger every second Sasuke was wasting time thinking about what it possibly could be. As soon as the rogue jumped back, he saw it emerge. A paw, roughly the size of his body. The orange that surrounded resembled fur being lightly blown by wind. The water that touched the beast's demonic chakura evaporated.

Sasuke stared motionlessly as the creature pulled it's body to the surface. The demon's eyes were blood red stared directly at the young Uchiha. He looked at Sasuke with the eyes of a predator awaiting the taste of its prey's flesh.

Sasuke's size was significantly dwarfed compared the Kyuubi. Its nine tails swung as he bore his claws into the steaming water.

He knew he was greatly out matched. The only one who had ever been able to tame the kyuubi was Uchiha Madara, and Sasuke's mangekyo sharingan was no where near the level of his. Sasuke had never felt fear this great since he faced off against his older brother.

The kyuubi snarled as he looked at the boy's eyes. The very sight of the sharingan disgusted him. He had every intention of devouring Sasuke where he stood.

_**'If it weren't for me, you'd still have your lungs saturated with water.'**_

Naruto looked dejectedly down at his sandals. He never liked to be in debt to kyuubi, his prices for his services were even steeper than Manda's.

_**'All I desire as payment for my services, the body of Uchiha Sasuke.'**_

The body of the fox began shrinking rapidly. Naruto's body became more visible through the chakura. All of his wounds were completely healed; He had not one scratch on his body. But when he looked at Naruto, something was different. His changed from blue to yellow, his pupils were shaped like a toad's, and the borders of his eyes were pigmented red. The orange chakura cloak that once surrounded him was now focused around his hands in the form of claws. His chakura had exponentially increased. Even though only moments earlier he was on the brink of death, he now stood before Sasuke even stronger than he was before.

"...What the hell are you! I killed you! I watched you die!" Sasuke's cries were out completely out of character for him, but it was completely understandable. Seeing a man rise from the dead would strike fear into the heart of even the strongest shinobi.

"I am Uzumaki Naruto, the one who will end your life, dattebayo!"

Naruto's catchphrase which Sasuke couldn't stand hearing. The very sound of that word made him war to rip his ears out with his own hands.

Normally, Sasuke would have made some crass retort to to Naruto's statement, but he knew all too well that Naruto possessed more than enough power to kill him. The only way Sasuke would have any chance of winning this fight, was to use every last bit of strength that he had.

As Naruto slowly made his way to his ex teammate, Sasuke closed his eyes. With all distractions cut out, he focused his remaining chakura to his eyes.

He heard Naruto's footsteps coming closer.

'Just a few more seconds' he thought as his chakura concentration increased.

With a devious smirk, he knew the time was exactly right for the deviation he was preparing to cause.

The minute his eyes opened, he saw Naruto's body become engulfed in a flurry of black flames. The lake of water they stood on had completely evaporated. Every tree that stood in the area was burned into ash.

Haruna looked as Sakura clung to her last breath while she was trapped in her water prison.

"Please forgive me...this shouldn't take much longer."

Almost as if fate was on a specific mission to prove her wrong, the water had evaporated.

The water that once stood under them was had completely vanished, causing them to fall twelve feet to the ground.

Sakura violently gasped for air. The wanton amounts of air to her oxygen deprived lungs almost pained her. Just breathing made her chest sore.

Haruna was beyond confused. There was no way every last drop of water could have disappeared in one instant. There was no heat source strong enough except for...

"Amaterasu..." she whispered "...I knew the kyuubi boy would be no easy opponent, but resorting to this?" as she tried to lift herself up using her left arm, she felt a slightly sharp pain. She figured that the impact had given her a slight fracture, nothing too serious though.

Using her other arm, she brought herself to her feet, and cleared the mist. Sakura still had yet to recover her breath. Being without a steady air supply for that long would have a crippling effect on anyone.

Haruna had made her way to the girl with short pink hair. She slowly placed her hand on her back. Sakura jumped as she felt her opponent hand pressed against her '...this is it...I'm really gonna die...' she played out every scenario in her mind, trying to think of any way she could possibly make her escape. Every think she thought of, was shot to hell because of her unregulated breathing.

'Naruto...Hikaru...I'm sorry, looks like I won't be coming back with you...'

Tears began to form around her light green eyes. All of her efforts in life, all her dreams for her future were about to be put to waste by this one final blow.

She felt a warm sensation coming from the girl's palm. The warmth felt comforting, soothing, almost as if it was...

"Healing...jutsu?" Sakura managed to say.

Haruna nodded as the light green chakura that surrounded her hand eased the tension on the young girl's lungs.

"I have absolutely no desire to kill you."

This only increased Sakura's confusion "But...why spare me? Wasn't it your mission to end our lives? Won't they kill you for this?"

Though Haruna was slightly relived to hear Sakura's breathing becoming steadier, the girl's words harshly sunk in.

Sakura looked into her sorrowful eyes. Her eyes reminded her of Hikaru's.

"Our mission was to Capture Shibuya Hikaru...there was nothing said about anyone else."

Haruna's eyes closed as she fought back her tears "Even if I didn't spare you, i would have most likely been killed by Orochimaru-sama...Hikaru, my younger brother was set to be my replacement..."

'Younger brother!...So this is Hikaru's sister...the one he lost so long ago.'

Haruna removed her hand from Sakura. There was a look of heart wrenching pain across her face. She thought of her former life with her younger brother. She thought of the times during heavy storms where he would come in her room crying her name. She would always hold him securely in her arms as he slept beside her. She thought of his smile that was always there to greet her on her return from her missions.

When she was resurrected by Orochimaru, he had promised her the safety of her brother. Every mission Orochimaru sent her on, every underhanded coup she helped pull, was all for his protection.

Haruna was deeply ashamed of herself. Not only had she lied to her brother about Orochimaru's intentions with him, she also helped plan an attack against him and his team.

She bit the inside of her lip until the skin was penetrated by her teeth 'I only lied to him...so that I could see him one last time...'

Haruna had been very careful with her planning of the attack. She knew there was a strong possibility of Sasuke being killed by Naruto, which she hoped would happen because of her personal grudge against him. With Kazuharu's promise to try not to hurt Hikaru, there was a small chance he would be killed. The last phase of the plan would be to die by Hikaru's hand. Dying again wasn't something she was excited about, but she felt thus was what she deserved for what she had done.

Haruna began to walk away from Sakura "Our battle is over."

Sakura had no idea what to do in this situation. Part of her felt badly for her. She obviously was deeply troubled by something, but this woman was also the reason why she was almost killed. There was no way she could completely forgive her for that, at least not right at this moment, but the reason she was able to survive was because of her as well. This tug of war within her mind raged on with no clear outcome.

"You'd better check on your teammate. Sasuke isn't someone stops a battle until his opponent is dead."

Sakura knew Sasuke's capacity for hate better than anyone. Defeat was something he wasn't able to take well. In the rare case he was defeated; he would mercilessly assault his opponent, making them regret having ever laid their hands on him.

Sakura wanted to follow Haruna; she had so many other questions she needed ask, but the safety of Naruto more important to her.

She ran in the direction opposite Haruna. The closer she got to their battle ground, the more she found trees sliced trough the center, and craters in the earth below her. The entire field was covered in ash and black flames.

'Please...please be don't die Naruto...'

Though he was badly injured, Hikaru finally had the upper hand in the battle. He had possession of his blade and had impaled Kazuharu's palm. Hikaru pulled the blade out of the sound ninja's palm and recoiled his arm at an attempt to gash his neck.

Just as the tip of the blade was about to tear the easily permeable skin of his jugular artery, the two warring shinobi felt themselves in free fall. The water that once flowed under them had been replaced with a thick cloud of steam.

Hikaru made harsh contact with the ground. He supersede his cries of agony as much as he possibly could. He could feel an extreme pain coming from his left leg and arm. He figured they were completely shattered. He felt his sword in the palm of right his hand. As he went to grasp it, he felt two sharp objects penetrate his lower stomach.

He was very familiar with this type of pain. Though the visibility was absolute zero, he knew two kunai knives had just made their way in.

He knew looking for Kazuharu would be pointless, even if by some miracle the fog lifted and he was able to see him, he could do nothing while he was immobilized.

Almost as soon as the thought left his head, Kazuharu had pulled his sword from Hikaru's palm. He was close enough for Hikaru to see his badly wounded leg, and his still bleeding nose.

"I hate people like you." Kazuharu spat "You always talk so tough, but can never back up what you say." he deviously smiled "And now you're gonna be the 28th kill your sword made."

Hikaru knew there was only one way to end this battle. One ending would be him dying and Kazuharu winning their brawl, which was completely out of the question. The alternative answer was the scrolls. All he needed was a drop of blood from his opponent, which Kazuharu had an ample amount of, and a drop of his own. He would die along with Kazuharu, but it was better than dying alone.

He watched as his enemy lifted his sword to end the his life. Before he had a chance to bring it back down, Hikaru pulled the scrolls from his back quickly unrolling them. Kazuharu's already spilling blood fell in the center of the first, while Hikaru spat some of his blood on the second.

The scroll began to glow a blinding white light. Hikaru closed his eyes as he waited for the end 'I can't say this is the way I wanted to go out, but at least I'm not going alone.' he smiled as he thought of the times he spent with his team. His only regrets were that he wouldn't be able go back to the village with his team, and that he was unable to save his sister from Orochimaru's cold grasp.

The moment Hikaru began to feel his soul being pulled out of his body by the force of the scroll, he heard the sound of paper being sliced. His souls had been implanted back into his body, and the power the flowing scrolls possessed was nonexistent anymore.

Kazuharu scratchy laughter was the only sound that remained "I'm actually impressed, but I shouldn't have expected any less from Shibuya Haruna's brother." he placed the tip of the blade by his neck "Haruna had asked me to go easy on you, and honestly I was. But after all the shit you pulled, you're as good as dead now." he winked "I'll just tell her I tried my best..."

It happened so quickly Hikaru had almost missed it. Two senbon stuck into Kazuharu's jugular vein. As his blood began to clog his trachea, he saw his assailant. He fell to his knees as he looked into the orange eyes furiously staring back into his.

"H...aruna." he managed to groan out as a pool of blood spilled from his mouth.

The peeved kunoichi threw two more senbon right above his collar bone "I told you not to harm my brother. This is what happens when deals are broken."

Kazuharu hopelessly slumped over as his blood continued to choke him.

Haruna began walking toward her critically injured brother. Seeing him in that state was almost too much for her to bear. She had never wanted Hikaru to be hurt. No matter how it was looked at, no matter if it was directly or indirectly, she was the cause of his pain.

Dumbfounded by what he had just seen, Hikaru apprehensively watched as his sister approached him. Seeing her do what she had just done, made him see her as he had seven years ago. The only reason he felt so apprehensive in her presence, was out of fear. The fear that this somehow wasn't her or that she still was following Orochimaru's orders. In either case, he was helpless to do anything against her. All he could do at this point, was hope for the best. Even if she was still an agent of Orochimaru, he would surly die of blood loss before they reached his compound.

When his sister finally approached him, she fell to her knees, cradling her brother's head in her hands.

"Haru nee-chan..." he spoke as he looked into her eyes. They looked on him tenderly as they always had. Her eye glistened as her tears began to form in the corners of her eyes. He had always hated seeing her upset. Ever since he was young, he made a promise not to ever let Haruna cry, her happiness meant too much him.

She closed her eyes, and rested her forehead on top of his as her tears began to spill onto his face.

"I'm so sorry Hikaru...I never meant for anything like this to happen to you..."

At that moment, all suspicion, all discomfort, disappeared as she poured her pain and heart ache onto his cheeks.

With his right arm, he used every last bit of strength he could to hold onto her hand. The moment she felt his trembling hand, she secured it in hers.

Hikaru smiled as e felt the acceptance from Haruna "Nee-chan, close your eyes."

In her mind, she was responsible for everything Hikaru had to go through from the time Sasuke was spying on their team, to right now. How could she have possibly denied his request?

With her forehead still pressed against his, she closed her eyes as Hikaru had asked.

Sasuke and Naruto were still engaged in their battle. The land surrounding the two was completely desolated. All life that sounded the area was reduced to nothing but ash. The demonic chakura that surrounded had protected him from Sasuke's amaterasu, but barely. Each burst grew more powerful, almost eating through every layer of chakura around Naruto.

Sasuke was also close to reaching his limit. His overuse of his sharingan began to weigh on his body. His eyes cried tears blood from the pain.

"It doesn't matter how many times you come back to life! I'll kill you over and over again you fucking demon!"

Naruto wiped the blood from his brow. He knew that even the Kyuubi didn't possess enough chakura to bring him back from the dead twice. If he didn't finish Sasuke before his sage mode wore off, he would have absolutely no chance against him.

Naruto combined his chakura with the Kyuubi's, concentrating it in the palm of his hand. The coarse concentration of chakura turned blacker than the amaterasu. This attack would be his absolute last. All the chakura he had left in his body would be used to cover the forest floor in Uchiha Sasuke's blood.

Sasuke's eyes began to burn to the point where it was almost unbearable. He knew the amaterasu was all that would be effective on Naruto in this state, but it didn't help his stamina at all.

Sasuke closed his eyes. Light was too much for him to take in at this point. He was unable to move, and he figured Naruto had reached that point as well.

With the pain somewhat diminished he opened his eyes. He felt his entire body tense up as he saw the blonde boy had disappeared.

The moment Sasuke shifted his body, he saw it. Only inches away from his face, a swirling ball of black chakura from Naruto's palm. Every second it seemed to expand.

In a final attempt to cling to his life, Sasuke released his amaterasu in one powerful burst.

The flames spread across the ball of concentrated chakura. The power of it kept the tainted rasengan in a stalemate. If Sasuke let his concentration slip even for a slight second, his body would be completely torn apart, but he was running out of chakura quickly.

Naruto's chakura was nearly exhausted as well.

Death stared both of them in the face, as it waited to take one of the warring shinobi its grasp.

Sasuke felt his amaterasu overtaking Naruto's chakura. All he needed was to hold out for a while longer, and he would have successfully claimed the Uzumaki's life.

Naruto felt his hand start to tremble 'Damn it! I need to hold on!'

But it was no use. No matter how much he tried to pour more chakura into the jutsu, nothing happened, and he only felt himself get weaker.

'...There's nothing I can do...I have no more strength left...I'm done..."

Just as he was about to release the jutsu, he felt his legs start to shake. He mentally cursed himself for being so weak, not even being able to accept death without his body trembling.

Suddenly, the ground below Sasuke and Naruto had completely shattered.

Naruto only knew two who would be able to destroy the ground like this.

He smiled as he whispered the name of his savior "Sakura."

This was the perfect opportunity for him. Sasuke's amaterasu had fused with his dark rasengan. Without any second thought, he drove the chakura into the core of his enemy.

Haruna supported Hikaru's weight on her shoulder as his right arm was slung around her neck. She had healed the shattered bones to hairline fractures. The stab wound in his chest had almost completely healed. She had given him two plasma pills to replace the blood he had lost.

They had walked to the clearing where they saw Sakura healing Naruto who was completely out of breath. The skin on his right hand was disintegrated; all that was left were a few pieces of burnt skin. Aside from that, he only had a few minor cuts.

Naruto was more than surprised to see Hikaru's arm slung around the girl he had recognized from Sasuke's squad.

Noticing Naruto harsh gaze on her, Hikaru understood how he felt. This girl, who previously was Sasuke's teammate, now supporting one of his.

Hikaru knew there was no explanation he could think of that would make this look any better.

"Haruna." Naruto called out.

Haruna had faced powerful ninja from every village, seen almost every lethal ninjustsu, but the sound of his voice made her shudder. Naruto had done something she had no chance of doing, he had killed Sasuke with hardly any help. He could easily kill her if he had the drive to. All she could do was hope that he didn't.

"Now wait a fucking minute Naruto!" Hikaru nearly lost his balance "She hasn't done anything to deserve your..."

"Thank you." These words were the last that Hikaru had expected to hear. He knew that any insult would only be out of concern for the lives of his friends, but he never expected words of gratitude.

Everyone knew she had come to end their lives, but it was because of her that there lives were spared. If she had killed Sakura, she never could have broken Sasuke's concentration allowing Naruto to deliver the final blow. Kazuharu would have killed Hikaru if Haruna hadn't struck first. The team owed their lives to the Shibuya girl.

With Naruto healed, he and Sakura stood up from the cracked surface of the burnt earth.

Naruto looked to Naruto and Hikaru "Let's go."

"...where are we going?"

Hikaru grabbed her hand with his right "Home, Nee-chan."

As the four shinobi left back to the village, a man watched them from the trees. His corneas were pigmented black, while his pupils were white. His hair was long and angular, colored jet black.

He began crawling down the trunk on all fours. He smiled, revealing his sharpened teeth "Well, this should be interesting."

The End

Author's note: Okay just for the record, I kinda wasn't that into this chapter. I just needed to end this story in a way that I could set up the next one :) so please, if you liked this story, check out

The Will to Live 2: Destruction of piece (Coming soon)

Also check out my Naruto crossover :) The Good Life

~Happy Murder~


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